2023-24 V.LEAGUE DIVISION1 MEN Regular Round Match 28

The 2023-24 V.LEAGUE DIVISION1 MEN Match 28 was held on Sunday, February 18, at Entrio (Inazawa City, Aichi Prefecture), where the Panasonic Panthers (hereinafter referred to as the Panthers) faced off against the Wolfdogs Nagoya.

[Set 1]
Nakamoto, who was injured yesterday, was out of the lineup.
Jeschke, who was struggling, was replaced early at 2-4, and Tarumi was brought in. Despite struggling against the opponent's serves and blocks, Tarumi scored a service ace to narrow the gap to 6-8. Although they were constantly trailing, they created highlights such as Nishida's service ace, reaching the technical timeout at 9-12. However, they were broken down by the opponent's powerful serves and could not develop their intended attacks, leading to consecutive points lost; Nishiyama and Shin were brought in to try and change the momentum. While there were good plays here and there in the final stages, they could not overturn the early point deficit and lost the set 17-25.

[Set 2]
In the early stages, they secured side-outs to keep the game close, but they could not cope with the opponent's tenacious defense and serves, leading to consecutive points lost, and Nishida was replaced by Nishiyama due to discomfort in his leg. After the 9-12 technical timeout, they lost consecutive points again, but Fukatsu scored with a block and Nishiyama scored with a spike to catch up to 16-16, gradually bringing the game to the Panthers' pace. In the final stages, Evadedan was brought in for Yamauchi, and Shin was brought in for Fukatsu to look for a chance to counterattack, but they fell just short and lost the set 23-25.

[Set 3]
With no room for error, the Panthers continued to use the three players, Shin, Nishiyama, and Evadedan, from the second set. They scored with a good rhythm from the start, and after Nishiyama hit a service ace, Shin made a block point to take a 9-5 lead. Otsuka's sharp, curving serve broke down the opponent, leading to consecutive points, and after extending the lead to 13-8, Nishiyama performed well with spikes and blocks to make it 15-9. Although they were caught up to 21-18 due to consecutive points lost midway through, they corrected their mistakes during a timeout, and Nishiyama scored to take the set 25-19.

[Set 4]
Although we fell behind 2-6 early on after being caught by the opponent's blocks, we stayed persistent in defense, and with Tarumi and Otsuka stepping up, we closed the gap to a single point at 7-8. From there, a serve from Arata and a block from Nishiyama turned the game around to 9-8. We allowed them to take the lead again, and the seesaw battle continued until we reached the technical timeout at 11-12. Following that, both teams engaged in intense rallies. In this back-and-forth game, Tarumi scored with a service ace, Otsuka added points, and Arata also landed a service ace to pull ahead by four points at 20-16. The opponent chased desperately in the final stages, but Tarumi held firm, scoring to take the set 25-22. This resulted in a fierce full-set battle for the second consecutive day.

[Set 5]
We built a rhythm from Yamamoto's receives as libero and converted them into points, leading to an intense back-and-forth defensive battle. Facing the opponent's strategic serves and blocks, we committed consecutive errors, putting us in a difficult position trailing 3-8. The Panthers calmly scored point by point, closing the gap to three points at 6-9 with plays like a block from Evade-Dan. The momentum shifted back to the opponent, and although we fought hard to reach 8-11 with an Arata service ace, we were pressured by their serves and lost the set 9-15, resulting in a defeat.

The Panthers have 26 wins and 2 losses, a winning percentage of 0.93, and 77 total points.
Next week on 2/23 (Fri, holiday), we will play against the Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers at home (Panasonic Arena).

Comments from Coach Tillie after the match

Comments from Shin after the match