Small in Stature, Big in Attack: The 170cm Road to Becoming an Ace
Height is one of volleyball's most obvious advantages for an attacker.
In the women's SV.League, where attackers over 180cm are hardly unusual, two 170cm players continue to put points on the board.
Miyu Kawazoe of PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku and Aoi Hata of Kurobe AquaFairies Toyama.
JVDB's 2025-26 numbers reveal a striking coincidence.
Both are 170cm tall. Both finished the season with a 37.0% attack success rate.
The same height and the same percentage, but achieved in very different ways.
Miyu Kawazoe: 1,289 swings at 170cm
Kawazoe appeared in 43 matches and 141 sets in 2025-26. She recorded 477 kills from 1,289 attack attempts for a 37.0% success rate, averaging about 9.1 attempts and 3.4 kills per set. With 36 blocks and 21 service aces added, she finished with 534 total points. The figure that stands out most is 1,289 attempts. A 170cm outside hitter carried that volume of offense across an entire season and still converted at 37.0%.
Receive, then attack
Kawazoe's job was not limited to scoring. She also handled 916 serve receptions, with 470 successful receptions and a 37.1% reception efficiency. She received, transitioned into her approach and attacked again. Her 534 points came while carrying major responsibilities on both sides of the ball.
Aoi Hata: a 170cm left-hander at opposite
Hata is also 170cm and left-handed. She is registered as an outside hitter, but spent much of the 2025-26 season playing opposite. After making her debut as a libero, she has also taken on a scoring role at the net. Hata played 31 matches and 82 sets, producing 180 kills from 486 attempts for the same 37.0% attack success rate. She added nine blocks and eight service aces for 197 total points, averaging about 5.9 attack attempts and 2.2 kills per set.
The next number to watch: volume
The biggest difference between the two is attack volume. Kawazoe has already carried well over 1,000 swings in a season, while Hata recorded 486 last year. That makes attack volume, alongside efficiency, one of the most interesting numbers to follow in 2026-27. Can Kawazoe sustain such a heavy offensive load while continuing to receive? Can Hata move beyond 500 or 600 attempts and keep climbing while maintaining her efficiency? As volume rises, so does the attention from opposing blockers and defenses.
The 170cm road to becoming an ace
Kawazoe already combines a heavy attacking workload with major reception responsibility. Hata uses her left-handed attack to score from the opposite position. Their roles are different, which makes their 2026-27 numbers all the more interesting. Small in stature, but they can hit. JVDB will continue following where these two 170cm attackers go next.