Farm Fresh fends off Ho Chi Minh City to open PVL Invitational bid

Farm Fresh staved off a fourth-set comeback from guest team Ho Chi Minh City to complete a 25-14, 25-15, 26-28, 25-20 win and get its 2026 PVL Invitational campaign off to a winning start.

The Foxies let multiple match points slip away in Set 3 as the Vietnamese club forced a Set 4 before staging another late rally in the frame, but Farm Fresh hung tough in the end to avoid the scare and complete the victory.

Trisha Tubu was clutch as ever, scattering 25 points anchored on 24 attacks, while rookie Jonna Perdido and veteran Ces Molina churned out 17 and 12 markers apiece to help the cause.

Tubu delivered the match point in Set 3, 24-23, but Ho Chi Minh City fought back and eventually forced a 26-all deadlock before Thi Nhung Dang completed a quick kill and Mong Kha Truong hit a down-the-line hit to drag the Filipino club to a fourth.

Tubu once again sizzled after burying back-to-back kills that allowed Farm Fresh to seize a sizable 17-9 cushion while a Renee Peñafiel block stretched that to a 23-14 lead.

But Ho Chi Minh City mounted another gritty rally, unleashing a 6-0 run behind Truong’s heavy serves. Farm Fresh, however, responded immediately, with Tubu converting a kill off a perfect reception from Molina before Perdido put the game away with a hammer from the left wing.

Thi Nah Phuong Nguyen led the Vietnamese bets with 13 points while Thi Nhung Dao and Thi Kim Thanh Dang both posted 12 markers.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA News