Farm Fresh Foxies win the pride game. The Foxies turned back sibling rival ZUS Coffee, 25-21, 16-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-10, on Thursday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig to keep their place in the top four of the PVL All-Filipino Conference Pulse Series.
The result moves Farm Fresh to 3-2 and into a share of third place with the Choco Mucho Flying Titans. ZUS Coffee, still hunting a first win, slid to 0-4.
Ces Molina does it all in the Farm Fresh Foxies win
Ces Molina stuffed the sheet: 18 points, five of them blocks, plus 17 excellent receptions and 12 digs. That's the kind of line that never makes the highlight reel but decides five-setters.
Honey Royse Tubino topped the scoring for Farm Fresh with 20 points, while Trisha Tubu stayed in her usual energetic mode with 17 hits.
Pride, sister teams and a five-set grind
Molina didn't hide what made this one awkward. Facing a sister team inside the same organization adds a different kind of pressure, and she said so plainly after the match.
To be honest, our sister teams are harder for us to play against — it really comes down to pride.
She also made clear the Foxies aren't treating any of these games as routine, especially with heavier opponents lined up next.
We're really focused every game because we know how important these are, since our next games are against tougher opponents.
Farm Fresh's remaining elimination schedule
Three elimination-round matches remain. Farm Fresh faces PLDT on November 10 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, then Capital1 on November 14 and 11-time league champion Creamline on November 21, both at the PhilSports Arena.
Around the league, Saturday's slate at PhilSports Arena has Nxled vs Capital1 and Choco Mucho vs Akari in the PVL, plus NU-Archipelago Builders vs AFP in the Spikers' Turf. Choco Mucho's outing matters to anyone watching that third-place tie.
Analysis: what the third-place tie actually buys
This is analysis, not reporting. Farm Fresh's stated goal is a Final Four spot, and the source notes that getting there would earn the franchise enough points for an easier path toward the PVL championship it has never won.
So the schedule is the story now. PLDT and Creamline are the two toughest names left on the list, and the Foxies will need the version of Molina that showed up Thursday — passing, defending and blocking — not just the one who scores.
The original report appeared on philstar.com.
