AKARI-Adamson University earned a morale-boosting 25-20, 24-26, 25-19, 25-22 conquest over the Power Smashers to snap a two-game skid and enter the win column in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Open Conference on Wednesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
Prior to the game, Adamson Head Coach Airess Padda has been ruing about the inconsistency of her wards, which cost them their first two matches in the inter-club league.
But in their game against the Power Smashers, the fourth placer in the Reinforced Conference, the Lady Falcons followed their coach’s command with a surprising performance from rookie Chiara Permentilla, who erupted with 24 points, as well as skipper Jema Galanza chipping in 17 hits that gave Adamson its first win after three games.
“I think I really stressed to them the team that was gonna win is the team that is gonna be more consistent,” Padda said shortly after her first win with Adamson in the semi-professional ranks. “I think that’s been a really big problem for us and we knew that we were going up against a team that was similar to us, not in skill but just with the inexperience. So I just told them to focus.”
Padda’s goal for Adamson in joining PVL is to give a great exposure for the Lady Falcons, which will serve as their buildup for University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 80.
“[The] first goal is earning game experience. No matter what, we [got to] take advantage of this opportunity. Some of the girls see it as exposure and I’m, like, it’s not about exposure, it’s about you personally getting game experience that you need to make us successful in the UAAP,” said the American coach, who seeks to build a winning tradition to her team after winning only one of their 14 matches last UAAP season.
Adamson is currently tied at fifth place with Perlas-BanKo holding identical 1-2 win-loss records, while the Power Smashers dropped to 0-3 in a tie with the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons, who lost to Hair Fairy-Air Force in three sets, 27-29, 16-25, 22-25, also on Wednesday.
Hair Fairy-Air Force improved to a 2-1 card and tied with BaliPure in third and fourth places, while Pocari Sweat and Creamline are still unscathed with 3-0 records.