Farm Fresh Foxies during the PVL Reinforced Conference quarterfinals.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Farm Fresh’s first PVL playoff experience may only have lasted for one game but the future is bright for the Foxies in the All-Filipino Conference in November.
Farm Fresh couldn’t sustain its first set win as unbeaten No. 1 seed Akari advanced to the semifinals with a 17-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-23 victory on Saturday at FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
“Yung atmosphere [sa dugout], siguro masakit talaga. Kasi may mga games na kaya naman namin pero kinakapos talaga. So sabi namin, sabi rin ng coaching staff, learning experience talaga samin and alam naman namin na kulang pa kami sa experience kasi kakapasok pa lang ng Farm Fresh. Siguro ito yung magiging motivation namin sa next conference,” said team captain Louie Romero.
READ: PVL: Akari heads to first semifinals, eliminates Farm Fresh
But setter Romero remained proud of her squad, also led by Trisha Tubu, Caitlin Viray, and import Yeny Murillo, finishing with the franchise’s best finish with a 3-5 record and a breakthrough quarterfinal appearance.
“Sobrang proud ako, sabi ko nga sa kanila sobrang proud ako sa mga kasama ko kasi nakita namin ‘yung effort and sacrifice talaga nagbunga. Although kinapos talaga kami, may mga times na kinakapos talaga kami pero alam namin na ‘yung potential talaga ng bawat isa nakikita namin. Thank you rin sa system ni coach Sato kasi ang layo na talaga ng inimprove ng Farm Fresh,” she said.
Romero remains patient with the recovery of injured teammates Jolina Dela Cruz from the defunct F2 Logistics and Adamson product Lorene Toring, who are both recovering from their respective ACL injuries.
“Super excited kasi All-Filipino, lahat eager bumalik sa training lalo ngayon ang dami naming natutunan sa game. Madami pa kaming iti-training, ‘yung mga lapses namin, and alam namin na mas malayo pa ‘yung pwede naming puntahan,” said the young playmaker.
READ: PVL: Cait Viray flourishing in new role for Farm Fresh
“Yung mga injured sa amin, like si Toring, medyo nafu-frustrate siya so kinausap ko lang talaga siya and sabi ko aantayin ka namin. Yun naman talaga ‘yung goal namin, aantayin namin sila makabalik and hopefully makalaro na talaga sila. Sabi ko naman sa kanila na wag nila madaliin yung process kasi mahirap talaga kapag na-injury. So kung sino lang talaga yung nandiyan, kung sino yung available, kailangan talagang mag-work hard talaga para sa team.”
Farm Fresh Japanese coach Shota Sato is raring to have Dela Cruz and Toring when they reach their full recovery, believing the pair would bring the Foxies to the next level and make their roster deeper.
Sato will no longer be part of his Japanese club Kurashiki Ablaze, which will defend their crown in the Invitational Conference starting next week, as he chose to focus on Farm Fresh.
“My coaching stint here is like the Ablaze. The players and coaches work on the same page to master the system. I appreciate the players and coaches,” said the PVL rookie coach through an interpreter.