Spreading their wings

Yeny Murillo has played for several clubs throughout her career. But she hasn’t seen a club team like Farm Fresh which she backstops in the PVL Reinforced Conference.

“I have been on a lot of teams before and I have seen that after like one or two losses, the teams tend to like go down, you know?” Murillo said after leading the Foxies to their first win in Pool A as the Foxies survived an action-packed 25-22, 35-37, 23-25, 25-20, 15-10 thriller over Galeries Tower on Tuesday at PhilSports Arena.

Murillo delivered her best performance yet with 29 points built on 26 attacks that went with two blocks and an ace apart from 10 excellent digs and 16 excellent receptions as the Foxies rebounded from losses to Chery Tiggo and Creamline.

“But instead of [feeling down], this team keeps improving and keeps showing me that they really want to become better and be better players,” Murillo added after giving new Foxies tactician Shuta Sato his first win.“In the first game, we lost 3-0, the next game we went 3-1, and now we finally win 3-2,” she said. “It’s like an improvement and we will take it, you know? Everything that’s [getting] better is always good.” The Colombian reinforcement had a quiet first game against the bracket leaders the Crossovers with 10 points, but like how she described her teammates, Murillo also improved immediately against the Cool Smashers with 26 points.

Creamline prevails

Incidentally, the Cool Smashers dealt the Crossovers their first loss later, a 25-20, 24-26, 25-16, 25-19 victory where Bernadeth Pons played a key part after delivering 25 points.

Another good thing going for Farm Fresh is captain and playmaker Louie Romero, who chalked up 27 excellent sets. Romero spread the wealth efficiently against Galeries, with Caitlin Viray and Trisha Tubu giving vital contributions for Farm Fresh’s first win.

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Viray and Tubu finished with 18 points apiece while Ckyle Tagsip had 15 even as Viray admitted still having difficulties adjusting to the system of their Japanese mentor.

“[The Japanese system] is more difficult because you have to do more things. But the coaches are there to guide us … it becomes easier because the coaches are focused on us,” Viray said.“We need to push, and that’s why I told them ‘you guys, we are good, we can do this and we just need to push a little bit, communicate and stay focused,’” said Murillo, hoping that the Foxies have turned things around for good.Michele Gumabao and Bea de Leon, meanwhile, contributed 17 and 12 points, respectively, helping the Cool Smashers secure their second consecutive victory after a five-set loss to the PLDT High Speed Hitters. This win tied them with Chery Tiggo at 2-1 in Pool A play.

Creamline unleashed an impressive 19 attacks in the pivotal third set, dominating the Crossovers, who managed only 11. They maintained their momentum in the fourth set, leading 10-3 and 17-12, eventually sealing the victory in two hours and four minutes. INQ