Saddened by loss of title, Kurashiki burns Est for bronze medal
Kurashiki coach Suzuki Hideo would have wanted to compete for the gold medal in the PVL Invitational Conference.
But after crashing in the semifinals, he was more than willing to settle for the next best thing.
“We were sad [on Wednesday] night but we needed to reset our mindset because playing here in the Philippines is a good opportunity, so going into this game they talked about giving their best this game,” Hideo said on Thursday after the Kurashiki defeated Est Cola, 25-22, 26-24, 25-20, at Smart Araneta Coliseum to bag the bronze medal.
“Est Cola is a very young team and I feel like we grew up during this league so we are happy to still win,” Hideo said, speaking through a translator.
The Ablaze were demoted to the battle for third by the Cignal HD Spikers’ hard-fought 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-11 semifinal triumph on Wednesday night.
And despite being bumped off the Final schedule, Kurashiki held steadfast, with Mei Cing Low and Saki Tanabe joining hands to save the campaign of the Japanese team.
Tanabe delivered 13 attack points, while Low Mei was present in both offense and defense with 14 points on eight attacks and six blocks.
“It is our second time playing Est Cola so it was already a bit easier for us to play against them. Our condition is also okay, so my performance was okay,” Tanabe said, also through a translator.
Signs of brilliance
Kurashiki was in control throughout the game despite Est Cola showing signs of brilliance in all three sets, narrowing the lead each time only to fade in the end.
The Ablaze rushed to a 15-7 lead in the deciding frame before the Thais showed signs of life and threatened to extend the game behind Napatson Pumnin and Papatchaya Phontham and breathed down the neck of Kurashiki, 19-17.
The Japanese were already ready to go home and rode a 4-1 run on the way to victory.
Kyoka Oshima guided Kurashiki with 19 excellent sets as the Ablaze ended the conference with a 3-2 win loss card, including the loss to Cignal and Creamline.
Warisara Seetaloed topscored for Est Cola with 14 points, 12 from attacks, and Natthawan Phatthaisong 11 points for the Thais, whose lone victory in the tournament came against Farm Fresh in the preliminaries.
