Volleyball: Sunbirds win SV.League men's championship
Suntory Sunbirds Osaka claimed the inaugural men's title of Japanese volleyball's rebranded SV.League on Monday with a three-set win over JTEKT Stings Aichi in Game 2 of the best-of-three final.
The Sunbirds followed Saturday's come-from-behind Game 1 victory with a 29-27, 25-16, 25-22 win in front of 9,864 fans at LaLa arena Tokyo-Bay in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture.
The Sunbirds ended the seesaw opening set with a spike by Ran Takahashi after saving three set points.
The Osaka-based club kept the momentum going in the next two sets, with 218-centimeter-tall Dmitriy Muserskiy coming up with powerful spikes and big plays at key moments.
"We gave it our all," said Takahashi, who is hugely popular among volleyball fans. "I enjoyed this great atmosphere. We played each point with passion."
Asked to comment on the inaugural season, the 23-year-old outside hitter said, "It was a long season. I felt like I kept improving every match. Our goal is to become the world's No. 1 team. This title gives us confidence. I'm so happy."
The SV.League was launched last year with the aim of becoming the world's most competitive and popular volleyball league by 2030. SV.League clubs have lured many big-name players from around the world.
The Sunbirds finished the regular season in second place behind Osaka Bluteon, who lost in the semifinals to the fourth-place Stings. The top six teams advanced to the playoffs.
Stings head coach Michal Gogol said, "They were a better team in crucial moments. But I want to give a big credit to my team. I'm really proud of the way we came back (from Game 1's tough loss)."
"We lost the match by millimeters...We felt like we were playing good volleyball. It's about closing the match. Mentally, we were ready today."
In Game 1, the Sunbirds came back from two sets down to win 21-25, 21-25, 26-24, 32-30, 26-24.
They ended up winning all four deuce sets in the two-game final.
"I want to congratulate both teams," Sunbirds head coach Olivier Lecat said. "It was really, really tough to play against them -- a big organization, big spirit. It was an amazing season."
Related coverage:
Volleyball: Osaka Marvelous win inaugural SV.League women's title
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