By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Farm Fresh stifled Nxled’s vaunted firepower and romped to a 25-17, 25-20, 25-19 victory to march to the semifinals of the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the Filoil Centre in San Juan City on Tuesday, April 7.
In their finest performance so far, the Farm Fresh Foxies shattered Nxled’s defense time and again, while their defense proved rock-solid to register their best showing in franchise history.
Balanced production also keyed the victory for Farm Fresh with Trisha Tubu, one of the leading MVP contenders, firing 12 points on 10 attacks and two blocks.
Ces Molina also flashed vintage form, chipping in 10 points, all coming off attacks.
“First time for everyone in the semifinals. First time, no experience,” said Farm Fresh’s Japanese coach Koji Tsuzurabara.
Alohi Robins-Hardy, who had 16 excellent sets on top of five points, credited the team’s cohesion and determination to bounce back from a four-set loss to PLDT in the qualifying round.
“I give credit to my teammates for bringing their A-game into the game. We came out here to win,” said Robins-Hardy.
“We have been working hard together for the past week. It was a tough loss (in the qualifying round), so we just had to bounce back. I’m really proud of my team,” she added.
Farm Fresh’s dominance was underscored by its discipline, committing just 10 errors in the one-hour, 30-minute match — half of Nxled’s 20.
Brooke Van Sickle paced the Chameleons with 13 points, while MJ Phillips added 11 in a losing effort as Nxled faltered in the second set, undone by 10 unforced errors.
