MANILA – Valenzuela Classy finally secured a win in the 2024 MPVA season after a 22-25, 25-20, 18-25, 26-24, 16-14 upset win over Negros-ICC Blue Hawks on Monday at the Paco Arena in Manila.
Souzan Raslan finished with a team-high of 19 points, built on 16 attacks, two service aces, and a block, as the Classy secured their first victory in five matches in the competition.
After surviving a tough fourth set win, the Classy were down 13-14 in the fifth and deciding set before managing to force a deadlock at 14-all on a service error from the Blue Hawks.
Razlan then send Valenzuela to match point at 15-14 after connecting a booming hit before they completed the come-from-behind triumph with a powerful hit from Genie Sabas.
According to Razlan, the victory was a huge confidence boost for Valenzuela City as they did not have the opportunity to train together due to the player’s various commitments.
“Probably, na-notice ko during the first-two sets medyo off kami, so nag-usap usap kaming mga teammates and coaches na parang ito na, ilalaban na namin ito,” Razlan said.
“Even if wala kaming training (together) talagang fighting spirit lang. We just trusted the coaches and the system and ‘yung tiwala lang talaga ng bawa’t isa,” added the former Colegio de San Lorenzo standout.
The Blue Hawks, the second placer during the MPVA inaugural conference, dropped to a 3-3 win-loss card after the defeat.
Meanwhile, the Bacoor City Strikers surged to solo second place with a 4-1 win-loss slate following a straight set victory over the slumping Caloocan AM Spikers (1-3).
Jemalyn Menor was hailed Player of the Game for the Strikers after leading all scorers with 13 points all from attacks./PN
