PVL: ‘Excited’ Kurashiki aims to stay unbeaten vs F2 Logistics
Kurashiki Ablaze. MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.NET
MANILA, Philippines — The Kurashiki Ablaze will play their third game in four days but they remain upbeat heading into their match against the F2 Logistics Cargo Movers on Tuesday in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Invitational Conference on Monday at Philsports Arena.
The Ablaze swept their first assignment against a Filipino club, making quick work of the Cignal HD Spikers, 25-23, 25-16, 25-23, to stay unbeaten in two games in the semifinal round on Monday.
The third-division Japanese team is bracing for F2 Logistics, which seeks to rebound from back-to-back losses.
“We saw how F2 plays. They are very fast in offense and defense. We will just play volleyball and do our best,” said Kurashiki coach Hideo Suzuki through an interpreter.
Kurashiki is also excited to play in front of Filipino fans, knowing that the Cargo Movers are one of the crowd darlings in the league.
“We’re really excited if there will be more people. It will be more exciting to play and it’s going to be a good game tomorrow for sure,” Hideo said.
Setter Kyoka Ohshima, who sat out in their first win over Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh of Vietnam last Saturday before making her debut against Cignal with 22 excellent sets, is enjoying the team’s PVL experience so far.
“There are a lot of fans cheering here. We were surprised [last Saturday]. We enjoy the games in the Philippines,” said Kyoka. “We will talk louder tomorrow because F2 has a lot of fans. We will show how we play volleyball to impress their fans.”
Kurashiki is currently second with a 2-0 record behind defending champion Creamline (3-0). Only the top two teams advance to the championship game on July 30.
