Freshly brewed

Games tomorrow:

(City of Dasmariñas Arena)

4 p.m. — Galeries Tower vs Petro Gazz

6:30 p.m. — Farm Fresh vs Nxled

RODRIGUEZ, Rizal --- Troubles over the non-issuance of international transfer certificates (ITC) for participating foreign guest players did not dampen the explosive opening day of the 2025 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference.

ZUS Coffee came back from a 1-2 match deficit to shut down Akari, 24-26, 25-23, 17-25, 26-24, 15-7, in a forced all-Filipino clash marathon Tuesday at the Ynares Center-Montalban here.

AC Miner delivered the crucial hits in the extended fourth set while Fiola Ceballos and Riza Nogales took over in the Thunderbelles’ blistering 9-0 finishing kick in the deciding frame for the hard-fought Pool B triumph.

Both teams had to sit out their imports — American Anna DeBeer of ZUS Coffee and compatriot Annie Mitchem of Akari — after the alleged holding off of PVL imports’ ITCs by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation.

The league called out the local sports governing body for the pending ITCs despite the timely submission of requirements. ITCs are necessary for foreign guest players to play overseas and playing without the document will result in sanctions from the FIVB.

Despite the issue, the two squads put on a great show that the spectators enjoyed for two hours and 32 minutes.

“It was a fair game with both teams playing with just local players. Not much of adjustments, we practiced with the same kind of rotation so we just rolled with it,” ZUS Coffee head coach Jerry Yee said.

Nogales led the Thunderbelles balanced scoring with 15 points including five kill blocks while veteran wingers Chinnie Arroyo and Jovelyn Gonzaga had 14 markers each.

Ceballos scored 13 while Kate Santiago and Miner added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for ZUS Coffee.

Cloanne Mondoñedo tallied 28 excellent sets to set up the Thunderbelles in hammering 64 spikes and libero Alyssa Eroa had 22 digs. The Gagate played her first game since his stint with Alas Pilipinas and finished with three points in two sets of action.

ZUS Coffee took advantage of an opening to rally from 6-7 down in the fifth set when Chargers middle Ced Domingo committed a service error that triggered the Thunderbelles closing run.

Nogales pushed ZUS Coffee at match point before Ceballos sealed the victory from the service line.

Akari rallied from a 17-22 deficit in the fourth to tie it at 22. Miner gave the Thunderbelles a 24-23 set point advantage before Grethcel Soltones forced a deuce.

Miner answered with a quick attack followed by another smash to bring the match to a decider.

Eli Soyud got 22 points with all but one coming off kills for the Chargers.

Chenie Tagaod scored 18, Fifi Sharma added 13 while Soltones had nine points, 16 excellent receptions and 10 digs in a lost cause.