The volleyball club "Brandieu Hirosaki", which represented Aomori Prefecture, won 3rd place at the 42nd All Japan Club Cup Men's Championship on August 13th.

The same tournament that decides the best club team in Japan for adult volleyball. "Brandieu Hirosaki" has participated in the tournament for the second year in a row, and is the first Aomori prefecture group to enter the top 4. Coach Ryoma Odagiri recalls, "It was a tournament where the players grew as they played more matches."

“Brandieu Hirosaki” is a club team that started its activities from 2021, replacing its predecessor “VC Aomori” with the NPO Hirosaki J Sports Project. Currently, 14 adult players belong to the club, and the players practice mainly on Saturdays and Sundays while working in Aomori Prefecture.

“There was a climax in the first round of the finals tournament,” said Coach Odagiri. In the match against "MALT", the representative of Miyazaki Prefecture, they reversed the match point situation. Coach Odagiri said, "I was about to give up, but the players worked together to change the flow of the game."

In the quarterfinals, they beat last year's winning team "Yamanashi Gakuin University" 2-1, and in the semi-finals they lost to "Reve's Tochigi" 1-2.

According to Odagiri, he had never participated in the All Japan Club Cup when he was a member of VC Aomori, and was eliminated in the first round of the finals tournament last year when he participated for the first time. Coach Odagiri said, "We won the best four in this tournament, and not only did the players gain confidence, but they also increased their offensive range and combination patterns, which was a great stimulus."

Next year's All Japan Club Cup will be held in Aomori, and with the result of the best 4 of "Brandieu Hirosaki", up to three teams from Aomori Prefecture will be able to participate next year. Coach Odagiri said, "We were able to leave a good result at a good timing leading up to next year. There will be matches such as the national qualifiers this weekend and the Emperor's Cup in September. This result will increase the number of fans as much as possible, and we will continue our activities. I would be happy if you would support me," he said with a smile.