MEGUMI KURIHARA

BIRTHDAY
1984.7.31
BLOOD TYPE
B
HEIGHT
187cm
CITY
Hiroshima
EDUCATION
Mitajiri Girls' High School (now known as Seiei High School)
HOBBY
Appreciate music and go for a drive

PROFILE

Megumi Kurihara began playing volleyball when she was in 4th grade of elementary school. In the 2nd grade of junior high school, she went by herself to Municipal Otsu Junior High School in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture to learn volleyball. One year later, she participated in Aquarius Cup and won Olympic Promising Player Award. She then entered famed Mitajiri Girls' High School (now known as Seiei High School) and won 4 champions in a row in National Inter-High School Championship, The National Sports Festival and Spring High School Volleyball Tournament as a 1st grader and National Inter-High School Championship as a 2nd grader, which made her a standout thereafter. She was chosen as a member of Japan women's national volleyball team in 2001 and made her debut appearance in the game against USA the following year. She participated as a young ace of Japan women's national volleyball team in the 2003 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup held in November of 2003. Kurihara became known as "Princess Meg" and whipped up public's interest in volleyball. Japan national women team participated in 2004 Summer Olympic Games and ranked 5th after failing to qualify for the previous Olympic Games. In 2007, she came back to Japan women's national volleyball team and took part in the 14th Asian Women's Volleyball Championship held in September of the same year. Japan national team defeated China for the first time in 5 years and Kurihara contributed a lot to the championship gained again after 24 years. In autumn 2007, she took part in 2007 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup as the ace of Japan women's national volleyball team. She won "Best Server" and "Best Scorer" awards in the final round of 2008 FIVB World Grand Prix and also participated 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. 2010 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship which was held in Japan in October brought Japan women's volleyball team a first bronze medal in 32 years. She joined Russian Super League team "Dynamo Kazan" in September 2011 and started to play volleyball overseas. Later she returned to Japan and played for OKAYAMA SEAGULLS and later for Hitachi Rivale. The game against Denso Airybees on January 23, 2016 marked her 230th match in her career and brought her the V.LEAGUE Honor Award. She thought about retiring in February 2018 but with the motivation "There is a place that needs me. There is still something I can do." she decided to continue playing volleyball. In 2018, she joined JT Marvelous and participated in V.LEAGUE DIVISION1 WOMEN 2018-19 and her team ranked 3rd at last. She also took part in "2018-19 V.LEAGUE ALL STAR GAME". Megumi Kurihara left JT Marvelous at the end of May 2019.
On June 4, 2019, she announced her retirement drawing her 17 years of career as a professional volleyball player to an end.

WORKS

Teams

JT Marvelous (2018~)
Hitachi Rivale (2014 ~ 2018)
OKAYAMA SEAGULLS (2012 ~ 2014)
Dynamo Kazan (2011 ~ 2012)
Pioneer Red Wings (2004 ~ 2011)
NEC Red Rockets (2003 ~ 2004)
Mitajiri Girls' High School (now known as Seiei High School)
Noumi Municipal Noumi Junior High School → Himeji Municipal Otsu Junior High School
Noumi Municipal Kanokawa Elementary School (Kanokawa Flowers)

International career

Japan women's national volleyball team2001 ~ 2004 / 2006 ~ 2012

Appearance in major international games

2010FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship 2010, Bronze Medal
2008Beijing Olympics, 5th Place
2007FIVB Volleyball World Cup 2007, 7th Place
2007Asian Women's Volleyball Championship, Champion
2004Athens Olympics, 5th Place
2003FIVB Volleyball World Cup 2003, 5th Place

Awards

【Club】
2006The 12th V.LEAGUE
2005The 54th Kurowashiki All Japan Volleyball Tournament
2001The 54th National Inter-High School Championships Women's Volleyball Championship
2001The 32nd National Inter-High School Volleyball Tournament
2000The 55th National Sports Festival Women's Volleyball
2000The 53rd National Inter-High School Championships Women's Volleyball Championship

【Individual】
20092008/2009 V.Premier League, Best Server Award
2008The 14th Princess Cup, MVP
2008The 14th Princess Cup, Best Spiker Award
2008Volleyball World Grand Prix 2008, Best Server Award
2008Volleyball World Grand Prix 2008, Best Scorer Award
2007The 56th Kurowashiki All Japan Volleyball Tournament, Best 6 Award
2007V.LEAGUE National Record Award (serves category)
20072006/2007 V.Premier League, Best Server Award
2006The 12th V.LEAGUE, Outstanding Performance Award
2006The 12th V.LEAGUE, Best Server Award
2006The 12th V.LEAGUE, Best 6 Award
2005The 54th Kurowashiki All Japan Volleyball Tournament, Best 6 Award
2003The 52nd Kurowashiki All Japan Volleyball Tournament, Rookie of the Year Award

Honors

2016V.LEAGUE Honor Award

Commentator/Reporter

■2019 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup
Japan×Dominican Republic
Japan×Russia
Japan×South Korea
Japan×Cameroon
Japan×China
Dominican Republic×Kenya
Japan×United States
Dominican Republic×Brazil
Japan×Kenya
Dominican Republic×United States
Japan×Brazil
China×Netherlands
Japan×Serbia
Japan×Argentina
China×Argentina
Japan×Netherlands

■2019 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup
Japan×Iran
Japan×Canada

■"Live News α" FIVB World Cup 2019 corner

■"S-PARK" FIVB World Cup 2019 corner

FAN LETTER

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