Tamaru Asaka of guest team Kurashiki Ablaze in the PVL Invitational Conference. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Asaka Tamaru introduced herself to the Philippines with an explosive 29-point debut as the Kurashiki Ablaze beat Vietnam’s Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh, 23-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-11, 2023 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Invitational Conference on Saturday at Philsports Arena.
In the battle of the guest teams, Kurashiki recovered from a first-set defeat as Asaka poured in 28 kills, while Yukino Yano chipped in 17 points to jumpstart their semis campaign on a high note.
“I was intimidated by their blocking. But slowly, I was able to adjust and find my groove,” said Asaka through a translator.
Wako Omura dished out 15 excellent sets only playing in the first two sets before Nana Fujimura took charge in playmaking in the last two frames and finished with 11 digs.
Saya Taniguchi had 10 points, as Kokoro Takio added nine markers.
“Thank you very much for inviting us to this competition. After this game, we will level up our performance,” said Japanese coach Hideo Suzuki as they battle the Filipino PVL teams in their remaining semis games.
Kurashiki eyes its second win against Cignal (1-2) on Monday at 4 p.m.
Nguyen Huong led Vietnam with 14 points built on 12 attacks and two blocks, while Nguyen Oanh had four blocks to finish with 10 markers as their club dropped to 0-1.
Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh seeks to bounce back against PLDT (1-2) on Monday at 6:30 p.m.