Suntory Sunbirds Beat JTEKT Stings in the SV.League Men's Finals

The Suntory Sunbirds Aichi completed their quest to become champions of the SV.Leag ue on Monday, May 5.

In the second match of the best-of-three series, the Sunbirds defeated the JTEKT Stings Aichi 29-27, 25-16, 25-22 at LaLa arena TOKYO-BAY in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, before an announced crowd of 9,864 on Children's Day.

After a marathon five-set duel lasting 3 hours and 25 minutes on Saturday, May 3 at Tokyo's Ariake Arena, Monday's showdown was wrapped up in a tidy 2 hours, 1 minute.

Was there a benefit to playing such a grueling match in the title series opener over the weekend?

Sunbirds outside hitter Aleksander Sliwka believes so.

"It gave us the confidence that no matter what, we can win, we can come back from deficits," commented Sliwka. "We can win every set, even if we are losing. I think that … helped us prevail today in this tough moment, in this first set especially."

Opposite hitter Dmitriy Muserskiy provided the explanation point on the Sunbirds' title-clinching match, executing the final attack attempt with precision.

The 218-cm Muserskiy, who was born in Ukraine, had an immense presence on the frontline, pacing the Sunbirds with 17 attack points on 34 attempts on Monday. He was a seemingly omnipresent figure on his side of the net in this match (including six blocks) and also on Saturday, exemplified by 62 kill attempts and 31 points in this crucial component of the sport.

SV.League — *Sunbirds outside hitter Ran Takahashi spikes the ball in the first set as the Stings' Go Murayama attempts a block. (©SANKEI)*

Takahashi Named Finals MVP

Teammate Ran Takahashi, a Japan national team star, also had a stellar performance in the final match, registering a whopping 15 attack points on 21 attempts. Takahashi, an outside hitter who was named SV.League Championship Finals MVP, also contributed two aces and a block.

The Sunbirds captured the 2023-24 V.League season title and headed into the rebranded top volleyball circuit as reigning champs.

Coach Lecat Expresses Pride in Team's Title-Winning Season

After the match, Sunbirds head coach Olivier Lecat spoke about Takahashi's dynamic performance this season. The French mentor also credited Suntory's teamwork as being essential to its success.

"I don't like to talk about only one [player], because this sport is really a collective sport," Lecat told reporters. "We know the quality of [the] man, everyone in the world knows the famous player he is, and he's still young. He helped us a lot this season. "We have a lot of famous players individually, but after that, we have to try to make them fit together, to believe in the same way.

"I'm really proud about the job we did together. The team did a great job from the first day of practice till today, so I don't want to just extract one guy."

Takahashi Reflects on His Team's Achievement

The Sunbirds had the second-best overall record (36-8) during the SV.League season. Outstanding play in the playoff semifinals and finals delivered a glorious conclusion to their season.

Joy was, as seen on the Sunbirds players' faces after the match, a shared emotion.

Takahashi also touched upon a different feeling that highlighted the end of the team's campaign.

"I feel relieved to have achieved our goal of winning the championship," the 23-year-old Kyoto native said. "This victory belongs to everyone at Suntory, and looking back on the season, I believe we were able to grow as a team and peak at the right moment for the finals ― it was the culmination of everything we've worked for."

In Monday's first set, the Sunbirds maintained their poise despite being on the brink of defeat on multiple occasions (the Stings had three set points). Suntory kept coming back and capped the hard-earned victory in the opener on a Takahashi kill.

"There were tough moments, especially in the first set, but we were able to keep believing and fight through together," Takahashi told reporters. "Our focus on each and every point was what ultimately led us to victory."

A Rollercoaster Journey

Alain de Armas, a key part of Suntory's offense and defense throughout the 2024-25 season, had a combined 23 attack points in the two SV.League Championship Finals matches.

The high-energy player described the overwhelming satisfaction of winning the title.

"These moments when you play the whole year and then all the work that you put in is worth it," de Armas said. "It's an amazing feeling. Saturday's game was tough. I don't know how many times we were only one point from losing."

Indeed, Monday's triumph didn't have as many edge-of-the-cliff moments for de Armas and his teammates.

The Sunbirds took a 2-0 lead in the match with a commanding performance in Game 2. Suntory jumped out to an 8-1 lead early on, and Lecat's squad built an 11-point advantage (20-9) before closing out the set.

In the third set, the Sunbirds and Stings revived the back-and-forth points pattern of the day's first set, which also mirrored the overall action on Saturday.

But JTEKT, guided by Polish coach Michal Gogol, came up short in its attempt to extend the match beyond three sets.

Stings opposite Kento Miyaura had a team-high 11 attack points, while Ricardo Lucarelli Souza added 10 and Torey Defalco finished with nine.

Stings' Gogol Expresses Pride in His Team

"Congratulations to Suntory, they were the better team in the crucial moments today," Gogol said. "But I want to give a big credit to my team, and I am really proud from the way we came back, because losing the first match [was difficult]."

He added: "I think mentally we were ready today. I think in the first set there was no problem, we were fighting good and we were ready. We believed today and that's also what I am proud of ― we believed and that's the main thing."

Author: Ed Odeven

Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.