Jaza Santiago of AGO Medics. Saitam picture
MANILA, Philippines – Jaza Santiago led Saitama to their third straight win in the final of the Japan V-League Division 1 Women’s, while Mark Espazo and FC Tokyo’s farewell matches against the Jetty Thunders have tested positive for a subsequent player’s COVID-19.
Santiago poured 13 points at the start of the Agio Medics slowdown to beat Himeji 16-25, 25-19, 29-27, 25-17 in the Wink Gymnasium on Saturday.
The 6-foot-5 middle blocker has delivered 11 attacks and nailed two blocks to keep himself at the top of the list of best blockers with a total of 102 blocks this season.
Santiago will face Victorinas in their last game of the 2021-22 season to cap his fourth season with Agio Medics.
Lorenne Teixeira led Saitama with 18 spikes and 22 points in four blocks. Mami Uchiseto chimed in at 15 points, while Momoko Nida added 13 for their third consecutive win, improving to 19-13 in fifth place.
Himeji dropped to 11th place 8-24 with Celeste Plaque taking the squad with 22 points.
Saki Tanakar had 14 markers, and Arisa Nagano added 10 with six blocks to the loss.
File – Mark Espejo with FC Tokyo in Japan V League. FC Tokyo photo
Meanwhile, Espejo FC Tokyo, which will be shutting down volleyball after the season, will no longer have its two farewell matches against the Jetty Thunders, one of whose players tested positive for COVID-19.
“We want to inform you about the cancellation of the 2021-22 V.LEAGUE DIVISION 1 MEN game (between FC Tokyo and JT Thunders). We apologize for the inconvenience due to the final announcement, but thank you for your understanding, “the league wrote.” Because (one player) Jetty tested positive for COVID-19 from Hiroshima.
Espazo and Tokyo finished their season in eighth place with a 9-25 record, losing their last four matches, including a four-set loss to Sakai on Wednesday.
This is the second time that the Tokyo-Hiroshima game has been canceled since their supposed weekend games were canceled in February due to a player virus.
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