The Premier Volleyball League holds a rare Monday pair of matches tipped to heat up the race in the semifinal round of the Invitational Conference with the Kurashiki Ablaze vowing a better, stronger showing against Cignal at the Philsports Arena in Pasig today.
The Japanese side shrugged off an early struggle and dumped Vietnam’s Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh, 23-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-11, in the guest teams’ league debut late Friday with the former guaranteeing a more explosive outing when they face the HD Spikers in the 4 p.m. opener.
“We’re thankful for the invitation (to play) and, step by step, we will level up,” said Kurashiki coach Hideo Suzuki through an interpreter.
Tamaru Asaka actually exploded with a 28-point burst, all on attacks, somewhat giving the HD Spikers middles something to work on as the latter tries to recover from a tough five-set defeat to the Creamline Cool Smashers the last time out.
Creamline’s 23-25, 25-16, 25-21, 24-25, 15-10 escape put them two full games ahead of Kurashiki at 3-0 with the defending champions taking a brief rest before stepping up their finals drive against the Vietnamese tomorrow (Tuesday).
Asaka actually downplayed her big performance, saying she struggled against Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh’s superb blocking in the early going.
“Their blocking was good but I was able to adjust in time,” said Asaka, who will turn 25 next month.
The visiting squads also took notice of the huge fans’ support and said they are thrilled and are looking forward to playing before a huge crowd in the mid-season conference of the league organized by Sports Vision and backed by BingoPlus, ArenaPlus, Mikasa, SMART, Rebisco, Kumu, Asics and SportRadar.
“We know that the local teams are strong but we will do our best, we will show our worth,” said Suzuki. “This is a good experience for us, especially with so many fans. Filipinos really love volleyball.”
Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh also hopes to rebound and play to its true potential as the Vietnamese clash with the PLDT High Speed Hitters, who are coming into their 6:30 p.m. clash brimming with confidence following a stirring 3-0 romp over the fancied but weary F2 Logistics Cargo Movers, also over the weekend.
That abbreviated win should come in handy for PLDT coach Rald Ricafort and the High Speed Hitters since it gave them more time to rest although preparations remained post-haste with just a day to plan.
But Honey Royse Tubino is out to match or better her solid 20-hit effort against F2 and the likes of Fiola Ceballos, Dell Palomata Mika Reyes, Erika Santos and Rhea Dimaculgan can’t wait to slug with the Vietnamese.
Top hitter Me-an Mendrez is also expected to suit up after missing the F2 match as the High Speed Hitters go all-out to even their mark at 2-2 against the likes of Huong Nguyen, skipper Oanh Nguyen, Xuan Le, Ngoc Nguyen and Quynh Pham.
Games are aired on PVL.ph, One Sports, and One Sports+ with live streaming on Smart Livestream, Cignal Play and Pilipinas Live.
Games today (Monday)
4 p.m. – Kurashiki (Japan) vs Cignal
6:30 p.m. – PLDT vs Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh (Vietnam)