By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The Negros ICC Blue Hawks suffered a heartbreaking 22-25, 25-20, 18-25, 26-24, 16-14 defeat to the Valenzuela Classy in the 2024 MPVA Season at the Paco Arena in Manila on Monday night, September 9.

The Blue Hawks were already on the verge of victory as they reached match point at 14-13 in the fifth set, but a crucial service error allowed the Classy to tie the score at 14-all.

Souzan Razlan then sent Valenzuela to match point at 15-14 after connecting with a booming hit before they completed the come-from-behind triumph with a powerful hit from Genie Sabas.

Raslan finished with a team-high of 19 points, built on 16 attacks, two service aces, and a block, as the Classy secured their first victory in five matches in the competition.

According to Razlan, the victory was a huge confidence boost for Valenzuela as they did not have the opportunity to train together due to the player’s various commitments.

“Probably, na-notice ko during the first-two sets, medyo off kami. So nag-usap usap kaming mga teammates and coaches na parang ito na, ilalaban na namin ito,” Razlan said.

“Even if wala kaming training [together] talagang fighting spirit lang. We just trusted the coaches and the system and ‘yung tiwala lang talaga ng bawa’t isa,” the former Colegio de San Lorenzo standout added.

The Blue Hawks, the second placer during the MPVA inaugural conference, dropped to a 3-3 win-loss card after the defeat.

Meanwhile, the Bacoor City Strikers surged to solo second place with a 4-1 win-loss slate following a straight set victory over the slumping Caloocan AM Spikers (1-3).

Jemalyn Menor was hailed Player of the Game for the Strikers after leading all scorers with 13 points, all from attacks./ASC, WDJ