I've finally had the chance to watch the footage of the V.League Men's Final held on April 17th, so I'd like to share my thoughts on it.
First of all, I am glad that the second day of the finals went ahead without any problems.
In the women's tournament, both teams tested positive for COVID-19, causing the second match to be canceled, and Hisamitsu, the winner of the first match, went on to win the tournament. If the same thing had happened with the men's tournament, the result would have been different, with WD Nagoya winning, and even if it hadn't, it would have been a very bitter ending for both teams and the fans, so it was good that this was avoided.
And I think Suntory's performance on the second day of the final was a great game worthy of the title of the winning team. Since Nagoya won the first day 3-0, I thought before the match that "Nagoya will probably win," but they betrayed my expectations in a good way. I guess they were tired from the full set + golden set against Panasonic the day before on the first day.
I think there are many reasons why Suntory won, but personally I think the key was the quality of the high sets (two-stage tosses) to both opposites. Suntory's Muserski and Nagoya's Krek are both monster attackers who represent the volleyball world, and both have explosive scoring power.
However, Suntory continued to make use of Muserski's height by providing high, easy-to-hit sets even in difficult situations, while Nagoya seemed to be unable to make the most of his strengths, with the ball being tossed low relatively often. The difference seemed particularly noticeable in the golden set.
It was an electrifying scene when Oya took the ball high from near the end line and sent it straight to right field, allowing Muserski to score a spike.
Not only Muserski, but all of Suntory's attackers seemed to have been brought out to their full potential by setter Oya in this match. The team's overall attack success rate was 69.1% in the second match of the final, and 66.7% in the following golden set, which shows just how amazing they are. It's no wonder that setter Oya was named MVP.
Although he had fewer hits than Muserski, Yanagida is still a man who is strong when it matters. His high performance in such an important match is as expected. His two aces were also thrilling. He was not a candidate for the Japanese national team this year, but I hope he will continue to evolve and make a comeback. If his serve reception is stable enough to cover for Aline in a diagonal pairing, he will have a chance. However, his diagonal pairing with Fujinaka is currently too well balanced...
At the beginning of the season, Muserskiy was unable to participate due to a doping issue, so Aline struggled, Yanagida was forced to withdraw due to injury, and then the Russia-Ukraine war began at the end of the season, so it must have been mentally difficult for the Ukrainian-born Russian Muserskiy. Still, it was truly amazing to come second in the regular season and win the second game of the final.
I am also happy that Libero Tsuruta, who has supported Suntory for many years, was able to retire with a victory. I have known Tsuruta since my junior high school days, and although he was an extremely powerful ace attacker at the time, I have always secretly supported him. Thank you very much for all your hard work.
Anyway, congratulations to the Suntory Sunbirds on winning the championship for the second consecutive year!
I'm looking forward to the upcoming Kurogane Cup and the Asian Club Championship!!
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