By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
The Kurashiki Ablaze made their title-retention campaign felt as they blasted a young EST Cola side, 25-20- 25-18, 23-25, 25-21, at the start of the 2024 Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference on a rainy Wednesday, Sept. 4, at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Five players scored in double figures for the Japanese team Ablaze, who stretched their winning run to seven games after a 6-0 sweep last year.
Low Mei Cing fueled the squad with 22 points built on 19 kills and two aces, while Yukino Yano fired 15 points including two aces and two blocks.
Skipper Saya Taniguchi unloaded all her 14 points on attacks, while Saki Tanabe and Mami Gondo contributed 11 points apiece.
Kurashiki leaned on its superb offense anchored on setter Kyoka Oshima, who scattered the ball well to finish with 26 excellent sets. It allowed them to erupt for 68 attacks — almost half of it from the combined efforts of Cing and Taniguchi.
EST Cola, which was represented by Thailand’s U20 squad, briefly bared its fangs by taking over the third set, but failed to sustain that momentum.
Warisara Seetaloed and Nattharika Thuamjok conspired for 22 kills and finished with 14 and 11 points, respectively, for EST Cola.
