PASSI City – Farm Fresh Foxies surprised Petro Gazz Angels with a 25-27, 25-23, 25-18, 27-25 victory during an exhibition game over the weekend at the City of Passi Arena here.
The Foxies’ four-setter victory came after they suffered a 25-21, 27-25, 25-19 defeat to the Angels during their Premier Volleyball League 1st All-Filipino Conference encounter last Thursday.
After losing the opening set, the Foxies were engaged in a tight battle with the Angels in the second set with a 22-23 score before they pulled off a 25-23 win on back-to-back blocks by Joan Narit and a service ace by Elaine Kasilag.
The Foxies settled down in the third frame as they opened up an early lead behind Kasilag and Ckyle Tagsip before they prevented the late uprising by the Brooke Van Sickle-led Angels.
In the fourth set, the Angels zoomed to a 10-4 start and later to 16-10 before the Foxies slowly clawed their way back to take a slim 25-24 lead courtesy of a costly error by Petro Gazz.
The Angels, however, managed to tie the score at 25-all, but they sent the Foxies to match point, 26-25, with an attack error. Kate Santiago then secured the win with a powerful hit.
“This exhibition game is a great experience to keep learning and keep growing as a team while entertaining a city that loves sports here in Passi City,” said Foxies head coach Jerry Yee.
The match also served as an homecoming for Angels’ veteran hitter Aiza Maizo-Pontillas, who hailed from Passi City before being recruited to Manila by the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses.
Maizo-Pontillas, however, played limited minutes in the exhibition game as Angels head coach Koji Tsuzurabara opted to go with his seldomly-used players.
The Angels-Foxies exhibition game was part of Passi City’s Pintados de Passi Festival to celebrate their 26th cityhood anniversary./PN
