On July 26th, the Japanese V.League released the schedules for both the men’s and women’s Premier League, the top level of domestic competition in Japan.
During the regular season, the 8 teams in both men’s and women’s competitions will play their opponents three times for a total of 21 matches. Both competitions’ regular seasons will begin on October 21st and finish on January 28th, 2018.
The women’s defending champions, NEC Red Rockets will begin the season against 2nd place Hisamitsu Springs at Sendai’s Zebio Arena. As for the men’s competition, the defending champions Toray Arrows will face 2nd place Toyota Gosei Trefuerza at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
There will be a league break from December 10th through New Years Day, which is when the Emperor’s (Men’s) and Empress (Women’s) Cup competition is played. The Emperor’s/Empress Cup covers two weekends and is a single elimination tournament. Last year, Hisamitsu won the Empress Cup, while Toray won the Emperor’s Cup.The Japanese volleyball manga Haikyu is a partner in promoting the Emperor’s/Empress Cup as seen below.
Courtesy Japan Volleyball Association and Production I.G
The top six teams at the end of the regular season will advance to the Final Stage, which will run from February 10th to 28th. In the Final Stage, the team with the best record and points at the end will be given 5 points to start the round robin Final Stage. Below is a list of the points given to the top six to start.
- 5 points
- 4 points
- 3 points
- 2 points
- 1 point
- 0 points
In the Final Stage, only points matter, so winning in 3 or 4 sets gets you more points. The best team after the Final Stage advances directly to the final. The 2nd and 3rd placed teams will then play a two-match semifinal called the Final 3, which will be on March 3rd and 4th. In the Final 3, only match wins count, so if it tied at 1 win each, then there will be a 25 point “Golden Set,” which is different than the CEV version which only goes to 15 points.
The winner of the Final 3 advances to the Final to face the best team from the Final Stage in a 2-match final, with similar rules to the Final 3. Those matches will be March 10th, and 17th or 18th.
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