T&T’s senior women’s volleyball team middle-blocker Sinead Jack and her Denso Airybees club continued their push for a playoff spot in the Japan Women’s Volleyball Premier League after a straight sets win over Hitachi Rivale on Sunday.
With the win, Denso Airybees improved to 24 points and an 8-6 record in the East table, level with NEC Red Rockets (7-8), and one behind leaders Ageo Medics (9-7) while Hitachi Rivale is fourth with 21 points and an 8-8 record.
Overall, Hisamitsu which has an impressive 12-2 record in the West table for 41 points leads the overall table, ten points more than JT Marevlous (10-4) while Toyota Queenseis (10-6) is next with 30 points, five ahead of Toray Arrows (9-6) while Okayama Seagulls is fifth with 22 points and a 7-8 record.
Airybees will next meet Seagulls on Saturday, and a day later, tackle Hisamitsu.
Over in Turkey in the Women’s Lig Bayanlar, national captain Krystle Esdelle and her Pursaklar team-mates battled past Samsun BSB Anakent 25-23, 25-11, 18-25, 19-25, 15-10 for a fourth win in five matches to push their record to 14-3 in the 14-team Group B table and second with 42 points, five behind unbeaten Ankara PTT (16-0).
Esdelle and her team, safely among the top eight qualifiers to the main draw playoffs return to league play on Saturday at home to Kazan Belediye, seventh on the standings with a 10-7 record and 30 points.
Still in Europe, T&T’s lone professional men’s player Marc-Anthony Honore and his SL Benfica continued their fine form in the Portugal A-1 Division by whipping SC Espinho, 25-20, 25-23, 25-19.
Defending champions’ Benfica’s win kept it second on the 14-team table with an 18-1 record and 54 points, one adrift of Sporting, which also has an 18-1 record but 55 points.
Fonte Bastaerdo (13-5) and Vitoria (12-7) occupy the remaining two semifinal spots with 39 and 36 points, respectively.
Yesterday in the European Volleyball (CEV) Challenge Cup, Benfica travelled to face current third-ranked Russian Super League club, and eight-time national champions Belogorye Belgorod at Sports Palace Cosmos, Belgorod, Russia with the second-leg carded for February 13 in Lisbon.
Domestically, SL Benfica will do battle with Sporting on Monday in what is expected to be an entertaining top of the table encounter.