MANILA, Philippines – After key acquisitions in last year’s rookie draft, ZUS Coffee will now debut in the PVL quarterfinals.
The Thunderbelles took down the Capital1 Solar Spikers, 25-22, 25-17, 18-25, 25-17, to secure the franchise’s first-ever playoff ticket in the All-Filipino Conference on Thursday, March 13, at the PhilSports Arena.
The win came just two days after ZUS Coffee’s thrilling five-set win against the Cignal HD Spikers to finish the play-in round with a 2-0 record en route to clinching the last quarterfinal spot in Pool A.
The result also pulled the rug from under the HD Spikers, as they missed the playoffs despite finishing as the third seed after the preliminary rounds.
Cignal will instead be throwing its name in the PVL lottery, securing at least the fourth pick in what is expected to be a stacked 2025 draft.
The Thunderbelles, which takes the seventh seed, will face the No. 2 seed Petro Gazz Angels in the best-of-three quarterfinals.
“[It was] a step-by-step process,” said ZUS Coffee head coach Jerry Yee in a mix of Filipino and English.
“There are still a lot of things to work on but slowly things are falling into place ahead of the playoffs,” he added.
Chai Troncoso led the Thunderbelles with 15 points, 12 coming off attacks, while last year’s No. 1 rookie pick Thea Gagate put up 13 markers.
Troncoso and Gagate’s net defense was also pivotal in staving off Capital1’s late stand in the fourth set to seal ZUS Coffee’s triumph.
Setter Clo Mondoñedo orchestrated the Thunderbelles’ offensive attack with 24 excellent sets on top of 6 points.
ZUS Coffee and Petro Gazz will begin their playoff affair on Tuesday, March 18, at the same venue.
Earlier, the Nxled Chameleons ended their All-Filipino conference campaign on a strong note, sweeping the undermanned Farm Fresh Foxies, 25-17, 25-17, 25-18, in the play-in tournament.
Chiara Permentilla and Krich Macaslang recorded 9 points each for the Chameleons, whose team only won two matches in 14 games this season.
EJ Laure also added 8 markers in the win that put NXled in the second spot of the play-in race with a 1-1 record.
Nxled and Farm Fresh will join Capital1 and Cignal in the draft lottery. – Rappler.com