PVL: Farm Fresh stops Capital1 in its tracks to stay in playoff race

Yeny Murillo leads Farm Fresh Foxes past Capital1 Solar Spikers in the PVL Reinforced Conference. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines–Farm Fresh put to a stop the rise of Capital1 to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot in the PVL Reinforced Conference on Thursday at PhilSports Arena.

The Foxies took full control of Marina Tushova to blank the Solar Spikers, 25-17, 25-23, 25-20, to boost itself to a 3-4 record and well within the quarterfinals.

Yeny Murillo produced 15 points coming from 13 attacks and a pair of aces to help stop the two-game skid for Farm Fresh with Trisha Tubu adding 12 attack points.

“We lost twice in a row now, but as long as we execute our system properly and as precisely as possible, I know our team can still perform better in the next game,” coach Shota Sato said in Japanese.

READ: SCHEDULE: 2024 PVL Reinforced Conference second round

“Our last two games were really painful because we were so close, but we couldn’t finish. Now, I’m super happy with the outcome of the game because we finished it in straight sets,” Romero said.

The loss humbled Capital1, which was on a three-game win streak powered by the powerful Tushova. The Solar Spikers dropped to a 4-3 card.

The Russian was limited to 18 points, all but one from attacks, and rookie Leila Cruz had a career-best 10 points.

Seasoned playmaker Iris Tolenada added not only 13 excellent sets but also seven points.

“We’re thankful to our coaching staff because they really studied Marina’s game. We trusted their scouting and stuck to our plan. Thankfully, we got the win and were able to stop Marina to some extent,” Tubu said.

The Foxies remained composed ll throughout the encounter, never letting the Solar Spikers heat up and stopping any attempt of Capital1 to extend the game in the third set, 15-11.

Capital1 had a moment from a 4-0 run but it was not enough to slow down Farm Fresh’s offense with Kate Santiago nailing a kill through the block.

Tolenada responded with a 1-2 play followed by a cross-court attack by Tushova, who was blocked by Santiago immediately in the next play. Even if Farm Fresh committed an error, Murillo got it back with a quick and Tubu ending the contest after finding a hole down the line.

“Maybe the mindset is really to go back to zero because if we see [Akari] as being at the top, we’ll lose our focus. It’s all about preparation and getting back to training,” Romero said as the Foxies face a big challenge at the end of the preliminaries against the Chargers.