SVG Women begins: 26 points at 163 cm and an ace entrusted with 79 swings
Two points from 24–24: a block, then a kill. In another match, a fifth-set winner came after match point had been saved.
The women's SV League Growth season opened with three matchups on October 17 and 18. Gifu won twice, while Breath Hamamatsu and Forest, and Kanoa and Shinshu Aries, split their series.
Gifu vs Sendai | Takaishi finishes from 24–24; 163 cm Matsuyama scores 26
Akemi Takaishi helped Gifu win both matches, opening with 22 points. She converted 20 of 40 attacks for a 50.0% success rate.
On October 18, she made the difference in a tight first set. At 24–24, her block earned set point. Her next kill finished it, 26–24. She scored both points after deuce.
The 171 cm middle blocker from Hokkaido joined after Sapporo Otani High School and Tohoku Fukushi University. Twenty kills in the opener were followed by a block-and-attack finish in the second match. She scored 37 points over the weekend, including five blocks, delivering both volume and set-clinching points.
Riko Takazawa also made a substantial contribution. On October 18, she converted 16 of 32 attacks for 50.0% and received 46 serves.
In the fourth set of the opener, she followed a 21–17 lead with two kills and a block to make it 24–17. Those three straight points took Gifu closer to victory. The 166 cm attacker, a graduate of Kinrankai High School and Kyoto Sangyo University, received 79 serves and scored 30 points across the two matches, combining reception duties with decisive scoring.
From Hiroshima Oilers, which ceased activities and disbanded at the end of March 2026, to Sendai: Hina Matsuyama has brought her scoring to a new team. The 163 cm attacker, who scored 490 points last season, recorded 26 on October 18. She put away 25 of 46 attacks for 54.3%, accounting for 41.7% of Sendai's 60 kills.
In the first set, Matsuyama's kill at 23–24 forced deuce. Before Takaishi scored the final two points, Matsuyama had kept Sendai in the set.
After Kagoshima Minami High School and Senri Kinran University, Matsuyama played for Hiroshima Oilers. Following the club's closure, she joined Sendai and established herself as a scoring option for her new team from opening weekend.
Breath Hamamatsu vs Forest | Irie saves match point; Nagae delivers the winner
New signing Akane Ukishima scored 20 points as Breath Hamamatsu won the opener 3–0.
The 173 cm opposite, who previously played for Hisamitsu and KUROBE, converted 19 of 40 attacks for 47.5%. She led the attack in her first league match after the move.
In the third set, after Sakura Kanda scored from 21–20, Ukishima supplied kills for 23–21 and 24–21. Her late points helped secure the straight-sets win.
Forest responded with a five-set victory on October 18.
Ayami Irie took 79 swings and scored 28 kills, adding a block for 29 points. Having recorded 506 points from a season that included 1,480 attack attempts last year, Forest's ace was again entrusted with a heavy workload.
In the second set, she hit consecutive kills from a 21–19 lead to make it 23–19. Irie also scored the set's final point.
Then came the fifth set. Forest faced match point at 13–14, but Irie scored to level at 14–14. Another kill put Forest ahead 15–14 with a match point of their own. Her 79 attempts included sets delivered when one lost rally could have ended the match.
Forest subsequently fell behind again, recovered and moved ahead 17–16. Hinako Nagae supplied the winning kill.
Nagae received 64 serves while scoring 18 points. The player carrying a substantial share of the reception and attacking duties also finished the fifth set.
On October 18, Yamashita converted 18 of 30 attacks for 60.0% and added three blocks for 21 points. In the first set, her kills tied the score from 21–22 and 22–23, and she scored again at 24–24. She helped Hamamatsu take that close set 26–24.
Yamashita, who joined Breath Hamamatsu after playing for Mie and Toray, also made an immediate scoring contribution on opening weekend.
Kanoa vs Shinshu Aries | Tanaka's resistance, then a winning partnership with Masuda
Mayuka Yamane scored 18 points in Kanoa's opening win, with 15 kills and three aces.
From Fukuoka, she attended Nishinippon Junior College High School and Tokai University before moving from JA Gifu to Kanoa. After scoring 436 points last season, she was a scoring option immediately this season too. Her kill also completed the 25–21 first set.
Although that opener ended in straight sets, Runa Tanaka provided stubborn resistance for Shinshu Aries in the third.
From 22–24, she scored two kills to force deuce. At 24–25 she scored again to level. Shinshu lost the set 25–27, but Tanaka had converted three attacks while facing set point.
Tanaka progressed from Kawasaki Tachibana High School through Gunma Bank and NEC to Shinshu Aries. On October 18, she scored 13 kills and three blocks for 16 points, this time contributing to a 3–1 victory.
Sayo Masuda increased her total from 15 points in the opener to 19 in the second match. On October 18, she recorded 18 kills from 47 attempts and received 20 serves. She and Tanaka combined for 31 kills, 57.4% of the team's 54.
Masuda attended Sapporo Yamanote High School and played for Sendai and KUROBE before joining Shinshu Aries. Like Tanaka, she has accumulated experience across several clubs.
In the decisive fourth set, Tanaka scored from 19–19, then added the next point to make it 21–19. Amane Izawa followed with a kill and a block, before Masuda's block brought up 24. Shinshu scored six straight points from 19–19 to secure their first win.
Tanaka converted three attacks at set point on the first day; on the second, she and Masuda kept scoring. The two experienced attackers helped turn the opening series into a 1–1 split.