The V.LEAGUE DIVISION1 was held on Saturday, October 16, at the Panasonic Arena (Hirakata City, Osaka Prefecture), the home of the Panthers. In the opening match, the Panasonic Panthers (hereinafter referred to as the Panthers) faced Wolfdogs Nagoya, who finished third last year.

The match started with a service ace from Kubiak. The team took the lead by scoring points through stable blocking and receiving. They continued to extend their lead with spikes from Otake and serves from Kubiak. Although the middle of the set was a back-and-forth battle, they rattled the opponent with strategic serves and took the first set 25-21. In the second set, the team had to play catch-up. Despite fighting tenaciously with sets from Fukatsu, their serve receive broke down, leading to consecutive points for the opponent. Nakamoto was brought in for Watanabe, but they could not catch up and lost the set 22-25. Looking to regroup in the third set, they failed to find their rhythm early on, but managed to turn the game around with a series of points from Kubiak's serves. Starting middle blocker Kodama contributed not only with blocks but also by scoring, helping to extend the lead. Late in the set, an Otake service ace further widened the gap, and they took the set 25-22. In the fourth set, spikes from Otake and a block from Yamauchi early on helped them find their rhythm, which was further bolstered by Kubiak's attacks. However, they were caught by the opponent's blocks in the final exchanges and lost the set 23-25.
The match, which went to a full set, was a close contest where both sides clashed with pride, but in the end, they were undone by the opponent's serves and lost 17-19.

The Panthers are 0-1 with a total of 1 point.
They will face Wolfdogs Nagoya again tomorrow at their home in Hirakata.

Comments from Captain Yamauchi after the match

Comments from Laurent Tillie Head Coach after the match