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ILAGAN, Isabela—Farm Fresh gave a glimpse of its growing potential before a big crowd on Saturday when the Foxies carved out a 23-25, 25-19, 25-23, 26-24 Pool A triumph over fancied Choco Mucho in the PVL On Tour at Capital Arena here.
Lefties Trisha Tubu and Caitlin Viray fired away on all cylinders, and with help coming from the heady Jolina dela Cruz, the Foxies upset the crowd darling Flying Titans after two hours and nine minutes of intense back-and-forth action.
“This win is so important to us, because it shows that the (team) system works,” Tubu said in Filipino after scattering 22 points on top of nine excellent digs. “It also justifies the belief that coach (Alessandro Lodi) has in all of us.”
Dela Cruz finished with 16 points and eight excellent receptions, while Viray had 10 points, including the hit that brought Farm Fresh to match point. She also had 12 excellent receptions in a rock-solid all-around effort as Farm Fresh rose to 2-1.
Choco Mucho, playing without a number of stars counting Sisi Rondina and Dindin Manabat, fell to 1-2, with its only win coming over Galeries Tower. The Flying Titans’ other loss was dealt by Nxled, another vastly improving side.
Though severely undermanned, the Flying Titans still played with a lot of tenacity and actually had the chance to send it into a deciding set after taking a 23-22 lead behind the relentless veteran, Des Cheng.
But Farm Fresh refused to falter as Rizza Cruz drilled a kill on the run and Viray broke a double wall.
Isa Molde led Choco Mucho with 13 points but exited early in the fourth with a slight foot injury. Cheng contributed 10 as the two sides gave a crowd of close to 8,000 a big treat with the all-out attitude they showed.
Lorene Toring added eight points, while Cruz and setter Alohi Robins-Hardy chipped in five and four, respectively. Robins-Hardy also outshone her counterpart, Deanna Wong, posting 22 excellent sets against Wong’s 15.