Ced Domingo (with ball) rises for an attack. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ
Marina Tushova, Capital1’s floor-torching import, was on a scoring roll in the PVL Reinforced Conference when she ran into a Farm Fresh squad that came prepared for her attacks.
“We’re thankful to our coaching staff because they really studied Marina’s game,” the Foxies’ Trisha Tubu, also a creative scorer, said after Farm Fresh held Tushova to 18 points en route to a crucial victory recently. “We trusted their scouting and stuck to our plan. Thankfully, we got the win and were able to stop Marina to some extent.”
The Foxies are out to stop another roll on Tuesday—but this one will carry more weight.
And it will be a little more determined to shred Farm Fresh’s defensive game plan.
Unbeaten Akari looks to add another game to its winning run when it clashes with Farm Fresh at Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
The Foxies, however, are looking for more than just a streak-stopper. They are hoping to secure a victory in four sets or less to advance to the quarterfinals of the Reinforced Conference.
“We need to push each other and if we stick to our game plan there will always be an improvement,” Tubu told the Inquirer after she helped the team slow down Capital1.
Farm Fresh owns a 3-4 (win-loss) record for eight points and needs a victory without being dragged to a deciding set to join playoffs-bound squads Akari, Cignal, Creamline, PLDT, Chery Tiggo, Petro Gazz and Capital1.
The Foxies are in a footrace with the Flying Titans of Choco Mucho for that last quarterfinals berth. “I trust our players, and we’ll make the necessary adjustments in training,” Farm Fresh coach Shota Sato said.
For Choco Mucho to advance, it needs to defeat PLDT in three or four sets on Thursday and hope for a Farm Fresh loss to Akari.
Keep momentum going
Despite being already assured of a quarterfinals berth, the Chargers are gunning for a victory that will keep their momentum rolling. “I hope [our winning streak continues],” Akari star Michelle Cobb said. “Momentum-wise we are already there. I think our enemy is the mounting pressure because [part of being] an unbeaten team [is] that all eyes will be on us. So I think the best thing to do is we keep on pushing.”
American Oly Okaro has done a great job leading Akari, which loaned key cogs Faith Nisperos and Fifi Sharma to the national program.
“[E]veryone wants something to happen and that’s something good and better and everyone wants better for the whole team,” Cobb said.
“I think the difference was with the help of coach Taka’s leadership and system, he got us in one boat,” referring to Akari coach Taka Minowa.
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“He got us in and told us ‘this is what I wanna do, I hope you guys wanna do it too.’ I think that’s why we are 7-0 now because we followed him and we trusted and were patient with each other no matter what.” INQ