Kim Dy shines in F2 Logistics’ latest win. –PVL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Kianna Dy hosted F2 Logistics’ block party with six blocks, nailing more than the entire Creamline team to spark the Cargo Movers’ come-from-behind five-set win in the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference on Tuesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The star opposite spiker, who unleashed 18 points in their 22-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-19, 15-11 victory over the Cool Smashers, said she just wanted to fulfill coach Benson Bocboc’s target number of blocks — at least eight.
This time, Dy even had one more black than Creamline’s five.
“Our minimum was eight because we did poorly in the first two games. We did eight and seven in the third and fourth games. I told them if we put in 10 blocks might be over our team capacity,” said Bocboc. “But given that Creamline is a strong attacking team and Akari got 12 blocks against them, Chery Tiggo got 10 blocks. We have to upstage that.”
FAMILIAR FOES
Jema Galanza against F2 Logistics’ wall of blockers led by Kim Dy (left). –PVL PHOTO
Dy rose to his coach’s challenge, showing flashes of her Season 78 Finals MVP form, giving Alyssa Valdez a rude welcome in her first game back at the Big Dome since Ateneo lost to La Salle in Finals Game 3 in 2016.
“Coach Boc gave me that goal. He said that I need to keep an eye on their open spikers. He said, this is your job to block these people, so I took it as a challenge. Okay, Coach Boc, I’ll do my best,” said Dy as F2 Logistics nailed 14 blocks.
The 5-foot-11 hitter leaned on her familiarity with her former college rivals to win their much-anticipated first duel with the Cool Smashers.
“We played against Alyssa and Jema during our college years, so we know already how they move, how they play, so it was kind of an advantage,” said Dy. “We studied their game because players change. In college, they were spiking like this. They can evolve also.”
The 27-year-old Cargo Mover credited their 14 blocks and 14 aces against the No.1 receiving team of the tournament to her teammates’ resilience, despite falling in the first two sets.
Just like coach Bocboc’s challenge, they took the 0-2 deficit in stride.
“The game doesn’t finish in just two sets. We all know we worked hard for this moment. It’s a challenge for us. We took it as a challenge. We’re two sets down, let’s make it reach five sets and win this game,” Dy said. “That was the mindset of everyone. It’s nice that everyone has that mindset. We have one goal and we got it.”
The victory has made Dy even more determined to help the team sustain its momentum amid a three-game win streak for a 3-2 record until they reached their goal.
“It was a really hard and good game. You can see it was one-to-one. We kill a ball, they kill a ball. I think it was an advantage for us to have time to prepare for Creamline. We’re taking it one game at a time and we’re going to prepare for our next games. Hopefully, we keep on winning,” she said.