KOBE Shinwa University disposed of Cignal, 25-23, 25-20, 25-23, to move on the cusp of winning the Belo-Philippine Super Liga Invitational Conference on Friday at The Arena in San Juan.
The Japanese guest team improved to 2-0 win-loss record and can wrap up the championship with a win over Petron (1-1) on Saturday.
Mariko Fujiwara led the way for Kobe Shinwa University with 11 points, all from spikes, while Nad Miyatake added seven and skipper Chihiro Fujiwara had six.
"It was a hard a very hard match for us especially in the third and first set, as the score tells. We were careful about the height of Cignal's block. It was very difficult for us to handle their block,” said Kobe Shinwa University coach Kiyokazu Yamamoto.
"The players are extremely happy to play with these Filipino players because they can experience the high-level offense that the Filipino's play with. It's very good for them to play against that,” he added.
The Japanese are now in position to go one better than last year's guest team, Thailand club Est Cola, which finished runner-up to RC Cola Army.
Jovelyn Gonzaga finished with 11 points for Cignal, which dropped to 1-1 ahead of its final match against winless Foton.
Maica Morada and Royse Tubino added nine markers apiece and Rachel Anne Daquis and Mummy Vivas contributed eight points each.