HISTORY beckons for Kobe Shinwa University now that it has positioned itself to be one win away from reaching the 2025 PVL Invitational finals.
Should the Japanese side get the job done and beat Chery Tiggo on Friday, it will join a small circle of foreign guest teams to have fought for the PVL championship.
READ: Kobe Shinwa sets up clash with Chery Tiggo for last finals seat
One of them won it all, while the other fell flat.
Of the five foreign teams the PVL welcomed in its pro era since 2021, KingWhale Taipei fell one win shy of completing a five-game tournament sweep of the 2022 Invitational Conference.
The Chinese Taipei-based side fell at the last hurdle when it got swept by Creamline in the knockout title game, 25-21, 25-19, 25-8.
A year later, the PVL welcomed its first Japanese guest team in Kurashiki Ablaze which won it all in its debut PVL stint in 2023, though they failed to make it to back-to-back finals after settling for bronze a year later.
Like Taipei, Kurashiki only needed one more win for a clean six-game sweep of the 2023 Invitationals.
Creamline was, again, at the center of it all as it denied a foreign team’s title path for the second straight year in five sets, 19-25, 25-23, 25-19, 20-25, 15-13.
Will Kobe make it three?
The Cool Smashers might not be the imminent challenger this time around, but Kobe Shinwa’s Nagisa Komatsuda is eager to rewrite history by enjoying every moment that will come the young Japanese squad’s way.
“We forgot to enjoy playing the game in the third set [against Cignal]. We got too nervous,” Komatsuda said.
“Next game, our mindset will be to really enjoy the game from start to finish.”
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