Already with KO round berth, Foxies refuse to slow down
RODRIGUEZ, Rizal—Farm Fresh has now won six of seven games in the PVL Reinforced Conference to catch sister team ZUS Coffee at the top of the standings.
But even with a spot in the knockout round locked up, Italian coach Alessandro Lodi stressed that the Foxies need to come out strong against Chery Tiggo on Thursday next week for its last match in the preliminary phase.
“We know that we are not done. We know that we still have the big goals and the most important part of the whole period ahead of us,” said Lodi after a 25-23, 25-13, 25-11 sweep of the winless Galeries Tower on Saturday at Ynares Center here.
“We need to keep working, attack every game like it’s also a step in preparing for the final ones, and keep improving every day.”
The match against the Crossovers, which will be held at Mall of Asia Arena, will help the Foxies build their identity: Lodi hopes wins, losses or records alone won’t define his team.
“We’re not the perfect team, we’re not the best team,” said the Farm Fresh coach. “We are a team that works, a team that prepares and a team that dreams. But you need to feed this dream with work and with quality and with the things you do. Because if you’re just dreaming, you will not achieve much. So really, every day is a step.”
“Today was a step. The last game against Chery Tiggo is a step. After that, we will know who our quarterfinal opponent is. And we will throw everything on the court that day to try to go to top four,” he added.
PLDT triumphs
Belgian import Eli Rousseaux, who dropped 19 points to beat Galeries, marveled at her teammates’ dedication and hard work since Day 1.
“I’m really convinced that until now, we have been really working in the best way,” she said. “That’s the main thing we have to really keep doing. Because if we let down just for a second, they’re gonna catch us very easily. So, we have to keep focused every moment.”
Rousseaux vows to keep on fighting for this squad, which has yet to reach the semifinals since entering the league in 2023, but has a shot now at claiming the top seed.
“I live for quarterfinals, semifinals, finals. I really love those kind of games. That’s what I’m waiting for already from the first day I arrived here,” she said.
Getting that top spot will not be easy.
PLDT not only crowded the chase for the No. 1 seed, but it also showed just what Farm Fresh is in for in its last preliminary match.
The High Speed Hitters turned to a scorching Savi Davison to score a 26-28, 25-12, 25-16, 25-13 over the Crossovers in the other game late on Saturday.
Davison reset her career-high to 36 points in PLDT’s sixth win against a lone loss that allowed the High Speed Hitters to join the sister squads on top.
And she will be the first to tell the Foxies not to overlook their next foe.
“Chery Tiggo is a strong team. We came into this game knowing they were going to put up a fight. We just had to control our side. We trained hard this week, came in physically prepared, and handled our end well so we could put up a fight too,” Davison said.
Lodi will take that to heart as he seeks to finish strong against Chery Tiggo.
“We will put everything on the court on Thursday. Then we have enough time to rest for the quarterfinals anyway. We’re going to prepare like we prepared every time,” said Lodi.
