Against Kurashiki, Creamline opted to use Filipino-Japanese middle blocker Risa Sato, and she delivered.
The National University product played all four sets in their loss to the Ablaze and scored 10 points, including three kill blocks.
Playing against Kurashiki, Sato admitted that she missed playing there. She grew up in Japan, playing the sport at the high school level before transferring to the Philippines for college.
“Parang namimiss ko, alam mo yung itsura nila na focus, yung Japan style talaga. Namimiss ko lang,” said Sato moments after their game on Friday.
“Ang galing nila.”
The 5-foot-9 middle blocker earned praise from the Ablaze stars, outside hitter Asaka Tamaru, and libero Kaoru Takahashi.
They pointed out Sato’s ability to kill balls quickly, something they could not block up top and receive down low.
Tamaru, through an interpreter, said, “Sato’s spike is fast, so our blockers couldn’t catch up, which is why she scored many points.”
Sato expressed delight in facing a team from Japan in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference, something the league did not have in the last season’s edition.
There was supposed to be a Japanese team back in the 2022 Invitational, but they had to back out at the last minute due to several COVID-19 cases.
The Cool Smashers ended up winning the championship that conference, sweeping Kingwhale Taipei of Taiwan in the winner-take-all gold medal match.
“Sobrang excited ako kasi, yes syempre kalaban yung Japanese team, syempre Japanese din ako,” said Sato. “Sobrang happy kasi itong time lang pwede namin makalaban yung Japan, di ba? Kasi last year Taiwan, di ba?”
Even though Creamline bowed and absorbed its first loss of the conference, Sato believes that they got the information they needed to turn the result on Sunday.
The two teams will face off for the title at 6:30 p.m., while Cignal and F2 Logistics will race for the bronze at 4 p.m.
“Itong game medyo nakuha na namin, alam ko na kung paano sila pumalo, so babawi kami sa training and Sunday,” said Sato.
“Kailangan champion kami. Yun lang ang mindset ko – champion.”
