In his return to the Japanese volleyball scene, Bryan Bagunas captured his first SV.League championship with Osaka on Sunday.
Osaka completed its turnaround from the brink of defeat to the top of the tournament after taking Games 2 and 3 of the Finals to dethrone Suntory at the Yokohama Arena.
The Sunbirds drew first blood in the best-of-three Finals, claiming Game 1 in four sets, 26-24, 22-25, 25-16, 25-23, last Friday, where Bagunas contributed two points, converting both of his attempts.
Russian import Dmitry Muserskiy, the 7-foot-2 middle blocker, led the Sunbirds in Game 1 with 23 points on 20 attacks, two blocks, and one ace.
Osaka responded in Game 2, escaping with a 13-25, 25-23, 25-22, 20-25, 15-9 victory as Cuban reinforcement Miguel Angel Lopez powered the offense with 21 points, while Yuji Nishida added 20 points on 16 spikes, three aces, and one block.
The Bluteon then completed the comeback in Game 3 with a commanding 25-22, 25-20, 25-18 win, highlighted by Nishida’s ace that sealed the championship against Suntory’s Ran Takahashi.
The title marks Bagunas’ first in Japan after previously suiting up for Oita Miyoshi for three years.
The 28-year-old later played for Taichung in Taiwan, where he collected two titles and an MVP award over three seasons.
The Bluteon finished the elimination round with a 38-6 record, good for second place behind Suntory at 40-4.
Suntory had also taken three of four elimination-round meetings against Osaka before the Finals.
