OKAYAMA CITY– The intensive training and preparation of the Philippine women’s volleyball team is starting to bear fruit following a very impressive performance in a friendly match against the Okayama City Seagulls Saturday at the Zip Arena in this lovely Japanese city.
Powered by 6’5” winger Jaja Santiago, the Nationals gamely challenged the elite Japanese club before bowing in a four-set exhibition match, 22-25, 14-25, 22-25, 20-25.
Santiago led the charge with 20 kills and three aces for 23 points, while open spiker Alyssa Valdez chipped in 15 kills, an ace and a block for 17 markers for the visiting squad, which displayed tremendous improvement in blocking and floor defense in the fifth day of training under Seagulls coach Akiyoshi Kawamoto.
Playmaker Kim Fajardo was also impressive, finishing with 40 excellent sets laced with a kill and an ace while team captain Mika Reyes stepped up in the absence of injured middle blocker Aby Marano to finish with four markers.
Head coach Francis Vicente was happy over the performance, but quick to tone down expectations, saying that the squad still remains a work in progress.
“I like our progress in this early stretch of our training,” said Vicente following the match witnessed by no less than Department of Foreign Affairs Sec. Alan Peter Cayetano, who is the chairman of the organizing committee of the Asian Senior Women’s Championship in Binan City and Muntinlupa City next month.
“But we still have a lot to learn. We still have to perfect our blocking and floor defense as well as improve our composure in the crucial stretch of the match. There’s still room for improvement. We’re still a work in progress.”
Vicente, the Generika-Ayala mentor in the Philippine Superliga, was referring to the action-packed fourth set where the Nationals trailed by five, 3-8, before Fajardo connected an ace to tie the match at 13.
A strong hit from the left wing by Valdez gave the Filipinos the lead, 15-14, but the Japanese quickly retaliated, turning it into a 22-19 advantage en route to the victory.
Kawamoto said he was impressed by the development of the Filipinos and expressed confidence that they would come up with a good performance in the Asian Seniors and the 29th Southeast Asian Games.
“Your team did great,” he told Vicente through an interpreter. “There were some lapse on defense, but overall, your team is doing good in training.”
The Nationals took a breather on Sunday before plunging back to training with the Seagulls on Monday.
The following day, they will take a 30-minute bullet train ride to Osaka to train and compete with noted university and club teams, including reigning PSL Invitational Conference champion Kobe Shinwa University.