Capital1 secures No. 3 spot, repulses ZUS Coffee

Capital1 formalized its claim on the No. 3 spot in Pool B, recovering from a first-set stumble and repulsing the hard-luck ZUS Coffee in the next three, 18-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-18, at the close of the first-round Pool A eliminations in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference at the Philsports Arena on Tuesday night.

The victory, which followed a morale-boosting reversal over Choco Mucho in five sets last Thursday, gave Capital1 an impressive 3-2 record. This marks a significant improvement from a one-win campaign in 11 games in the recent All-Filipino, with many matches still ahead for one of the league’s most promising squads.

Capital1 thus joined unbeaten Akari and Cignal in the Top 3, who will face the bottom three in the Pool A side in the crossover second-round eliminations.

Marina Tushova continued to lead the team, firing 31 attacks for a 32-point performance although the Russian reinforcement yielded the spotlight to Iris Tolenada, whose brilliant playmaking skills earned her the best player of the game honors in the one-hour, 47-minute match.

“We’re really excited, especially because the franchise is new and we’re still building this program,” said playmaker Iris Tolenada, who produced 21 excellent sets with five attack points to boot.

“We’re really proud that we continue fighting. In this game, we wanted to come in and make an exclamation point at the end,” she added.

When asked what she had learned from their three wins, the former member of the San Francisco State Gators in NCAA Division II said: “I’ve learned to have a lot of patience, leadership, and to help direct whatever the coaches tell the players.”

The Solar Spikers entered the match brimming with confidence but faced a more inspired ZUS Coffee side, which took control early and never looked back to gain the early upper hand.

However, the Thunderbelles faltered in the next three sets as the Solar Spikers, responding to coach Roger Gorayeb’s instructions, reasserted their dominance to secure a string of set victories in emphatic fashion.

ZUS Coffee tried to stall Capital1 by keeping the game close in the fourth set, but the Thunderbelles failed to measure up when the Solar Spikers, led by Tushova, started to pile up points midway through, storming to a 21-12 lead.

Des Clemente backed Tushova with 12 points, while Jenya Torres and Julia Ipac added seven and six points, respectively. Leila Cruz matched Tolenada’s output as the Solar Spikers unloaded 60 spikes compared to the Thunderbelles’ 45, offsetting their rivals’ edge in blocking, 10-5.

The loss was ZUS Coffee’s fifth straight, with the Thunderbelles joining the Choco Mucho Flying Titans and the Petro Gazz Angels in the next round with the top three teams in Pool A, the composition of which will be determined after the last first-round eliminations on Thursday.

Asaka Tamaru finished with 22 points, Dolly Verzosa added 12 markers, Ypril Tapia chipped in seven points, Michelle Gamit scored six markers, and Sharya Ancheta scored all her six points on blocks.