Expect Farm Fresh to come in lock and loaded when hostilities erupt in the 2024 Premier Volleyball League next month.
Reinforced by marquee recruits and bringing in the lessons learned from their maiden run last year, a more mature Foxies will march into battle in the season-opening tournament set on 20 February.
Ace setter Louie Romero believes Farm Fresh will give rival clubs a run for their money.
“We will be more competitive this season. Last season, obviously we lacked maturity and experience (in the professional league) because the team is composed of young players. That’s the reason why we struggled to get wins,” Romero said.
The Foxies finished 10th in the 2nd All-Filipino Conference with a 2-9 win-loss record following a winless maiden run in the mid-season Invitational Conference.
“But now the management worked hard to form a formidable team. They really gave us their full support. So we want to repay the management’s trust in us this coming season,” Romero, who came onboard the Foxies during the 2nd AFC, added.
The arrival of veterans Caitlin Viray, Elaine Kasilag and setter Anj Legacion will inject experience into the young squad of head coach Jerry Yee.
Farm Fresh joined the offseason arms race after taking in nine new players including libero Julia Angeles, Janel Delerio, Ypril Tapia, Jaycel Delos Reyes, Chinnie Arroyo and top winger Jolina dela Cruz.
Dela Cruz, however, will be out in the first conference after undergoing a right knee surgery last Wednesday.
“We’re super happy that we now have additional teammates. It’s important that we now have veterans in our team who will guide us on what we should improve on and help us make the right decisions inside the court,” Romero, who averaged 4.56 excellent sets per frame in her debut tournament, said.
Aside from bringing in reinforcements, Farm Fresh also tapped the services of Japanese trainer Master Shimizu to work hand-in-hand with Yee to make sure the team will be ready for battle.
The Foxies will also pin their hopes on holdovers Trisha Tubu, Kate Santiago, Rizza Cruz, Joan Narit and Alyssa Bertolano.
Tubu was Farm Fresh’s scoring leader last conference with 16.6 points per game and 34.98 percent success rate in attacks.
