By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Negrense Alyssa Bertolano’s rock-solid defense anchored Farm Fresh Foxies’ four-set victory over the Petro Gazz Angels, 25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 28-26, clinching the team’s quarterfinal berth in the 2025 PVL Reinforced Conference at the Playtime FilOil Centre in San Juan City on Tuesday, November 11.
Bertolano turned in a standout performance with 13 excellent digs and 11 excellent receptions, keeping the Angels’ heavy hitters in check and stabilizing the Foxies’ floor defense at crucial moments.
Her defensive consistency allowed the Foxies’ offense to thrive, led by Belgian reinforcement Hélène Rousseaux, who delivered a dazzling 31-point performance built on 28 attacks, two blocks and an ace.
Trisha Tubu chipped in 14 markers, including 13 attacks.
Frances Xinia Molina added 10 points.
Setter Alohi Robins-Hardy steered the offense with 21 excellent sets and also contributed nine points.
For Petro Gazz, Lindsey Vander-Weide and Brooke Van Sickle scored 16 points each, while MarJana Phillips and Ranya Musa finished with 13 and 10, respectively, as the Angels slipped to a 3-3 record.
Meanwhile, Yuni Batista unleashed a 41-point masterpiece to lead the Chery Tiggo Crossovers past the Capital1 Solar Spikers, 27-25, 23-25, 25-12, 22-25, 15-13.
Batista, the Cuban outside hitter, became only the fifth player in PVL history to record at least 40 points in a match. She converted 41 percent of her attempts and fired 10 points in the decisive fifth set to lift the Crossovers to victory.
After splitting the tightly contested first two sets, the Crossovers erupted with a 13-1 start in the third frame, seizing the momentum before the Solar Spikers pushed the game to a deciding set.
The hard-earned win snapped Chery Tiggo’s slump and kept its quarterfinal hopes alive, improving to 2-4 for a share of ninth place with the Choco Mucho Flying Titans, with two games remaining in the preliminaries.
On the other hand, Capital1 saw its two-game winning streak halted but remained in the upper half of the standings at 4-2./ASC, WDJ