Kurashiki Ablaze put out the last team bidding to derail its march to the championship, staving off PLDT, 25-15, 23-25, 25-14, 25-23, Thursday night and sealing a showdown with Creamline for the Premier Volleyball League Invitational crown at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
Unlike in their three-set victories over the first two local teams they had faced in the semis, however, the Japanese needed an extra one to thwart the High Speed Hitters, who struck back from a blowout opening set loss with a gallant stand in the second but whose blistering rally in the fourth fizzled out in the end.
The visiting squad re-established control in the pivotal set behind swift attacks marked by methodical hitting from Asaka Tamaru then quelled the High Speed Hitters’ fightback to carve out the near two-hour victory that stretched their unbeaten run in the mid-season conference of the league organized by Sports Vision.
Kurashiki thus matched Creamline’s record at 4-0, making their 6:30 p.m. match today (Friday) a preview of the championship
But expect the Japanese and the Cool Smashers to still go all-out for the confidence and the mental push needed in a one-game final for the gold medal on Sunday.
“We’ll do our best (against Creamline),” said Kurashiki coach Hideo Suzuki, adding that he had actually thought his wards would succumb to the PLDT side he described as “strong.”
PLDT wound up with a 2-3 slate with Cignal, still playing with Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh (Vietnam) at presstime, trying to likewise end up with the same mark for the battle for the bronze.
F2 Logistics, also toting a 1-3 card like Cignal, fights for a crack at third place as it faces Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh at 4 p.m. today.
Playmaker Kyoka Oshima took the game’s top honors again with a 19-excellent set showing but said the rigors of playing tough games in succession have taken the toll on them.
“It’s a good experience but we are already tired playing straight games. It has affected our concentration,” said Kyoka, who spiked her superb outing with seven points.
But Asaka continued to flourish with her top-notch game, topping her previous 29-point effort against Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh, and 16- and 19-point productions against Cignal and F2 Logistics, respectively, with a 30-point explosion against the High Speed Hitters.
The Ablaze actually missed her services as she headed to the bench on rotation at the end of the fourth, enabling the High Speed Hitters to mount a rally that saw them pull within, 23-24, on a Me-an Mendrez hit.
But Akane Hiraoka hammered a blast in-between Mendrez and Mika Reyes out-stretched arms to finish off the High Speed Hitters, who failed to properly set up in a previous play as Mich Morente, who keyed PLDT’s comeback from 11-19 down with back-to-back hits, opted for a quick return after an exchange which the Japanese foiled, leading to Hiraoka’s match-clinching hit.
Saki Tanabe scored 15 points, while Hiraoka and Yukino Yano added 11 and nine points, respectively, for the Ablaze, who came up with 69 attack points against PLDT’s 57.
Honey Royse Tubino, who spearheaded PLDT’s rebound in the second set, fired 23 points while Fiola Ceballos came through with 15 points and Morente and Reyes finished with nine points each.