World volleyball: Japan, Poland and Italy heat up ahead of weekend clashes

This week, the volleyball world turns its attention to Japan, Poland and Italy, where top leagues are entering a decisive phase. In Japan's women's SV.League, Denso Airybees Koriyama and defending champions Saga Hisamitsu Springs are among the unbeaten teams after two matches. Denso will host Saga in a double header at Horaiya Bonds Arena on Friday and Saturday. Denso won both opening away games against Saitama Ageo Medics 3-0 and 3-2, with contributions from opposite Myat Yee Mon, Colombian outside hitter Amanda Coneo and Brazilian setter Roberta Ratzke. Saga won both historic season-opening matches against Aleeza Aichi in Thailand 3-1 and 3-2, led by Latvian opposite Marta Levinska. Last season, Hisamitsu Springs won all four SV.League meetings with Airybees, but the most recent one went to five sets. In the men's SV.League, Tokyo Great Bears were pushed to five sets by rookies Hokkaido Yellow Stars in their first match but responded with a convincing straight-set win in the second. Great Bears will visit Wolfdogs Nagoya for a double header at Entrio. Nagoya finished fourth last season and won the Emperor's Cup, and have strengthened with Kento Miyaura, Hideomi Fukatsu, Norbert Huber, Jenia Grebennikov, Anton Brehme and Donovan Dzavoronok. Last season, Nagoya and Tokyo split six SV.League meetings 3-3. In Poland, the women's Super Cup will be contested between PGE Budowlani Lodz and DevelopRes Rzeszow on Saturday in Czestochowa. DevelopRes are unbeaten in the league at 3-0, while Budowlani stand fifth at 2-1. Last season, Budowlani won five of eight meetings, including three in the championship series. The men's Super Cup on Sunday features BOGDANKA LUK Lublin and Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie. Warta boast a star-studded roster including Miguel Tavares, Kamil Rychlicki, Tomasz Fornal, Aaron Russell, Jakub Kochanowski and Mateusz Bieniek, but began the season with a shock 0-3 loss to GKS Katowice. BOGDANKA, with Wilfredo Leon, Aleks Grozdanov, Ran Takahashi and Tomohiro Ogawa, lead the TAURON Liga after straight-set wins over ZAKSA and Energa Trefl Gdansk. Last season, Warta won five of seven PlusLiga meetings with Lublin. In Italy's SuperLega, Itas Trentino Trento face Cisterna Volley. Trentino swept Valsa Group Modena 3-0 with Theo Faure scoring 23 points, while Cisterna surprised Allianz Milan 3-0. Trentino shut out Cisterna in both meetings last season. The TAURON Liga match between PGE Projekt Warsaw and Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie has been moved to next Wednesday due to Warta's participation in the 2026 FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship in December. Projekt, with Jan Firlej, Yuri Romano, Aleksander Sliwka and others, started with a 3-1 win over Energa Indykpol AZS Olsztyn, while Warta lost 0-3 to GKS Katowice before beating ZAKSA 3-1. Projekt swept both games against Warta last season and lead the all-time head-to-head 14-9.