“We never felt like number one”: Coach Lodi reflects on Foxies’ shock PVL quarterfinal exit

The Farm Fresh Foxies entered the quarterfinals of the 2025 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference as one of the tournament favorites after finishing on top of the elimination round standings.

But their postseason run came to an abrupt end after a motivated Akari Chargers squad pulled off a stunning 26–28, 30–28, 25–21 sweep on Monday, November 24, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The eighth-seeded Chargers outplayed the Foxies throughout the match, and Farm Fresh head coach Alessandro Lodi stressed afterward that despite their ranking, he never viewed his team as the “No. 1” or the team to beat.

“Competitors were prepared. There are wins and losses, so you can never just assume that you will win. I thought we were prepared. We knew the strengths and weaknesses of Akari. And I think today they played really well and they showed more of the strengths and less of the weaknesses,” Lodi said in the postmatch press conference.

It wasn’t the ending that they wanted, but Farm Fresh head coach Alessandro Lodi remains proud of the Foxies’ #PVLReinforced run. 🦊🏐#PVL2025 pic.twitter.com/0pfFK0QgGf

— The Game Magazine (@thegamemagph) November 24, 2025

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“On our side, for sure, we could have done a few things better. But I need to stress the fact that despite being the number one seed in terms of results in the qualification round, we never felt nor have we ever been the number one team,” he added.

Despite the early exit, Lodi highlighted the progress his squad has made this conference and believes the experience will serve as a foundation for future growth.

“We are a team that has worked really hard, that has struggled and was able to overcome struggle. We won a lot of games, but we knew that everything we got so far was earned, was not to be taken for granted, and we had to reconquer it every play and every set of every game. Credit to them and we take the lesson. We really value everything that we have done so far,” Lodi concluded.

With their campaign officially over, the Foxies now watch from the sidelines as the semifinals unfold. Akari faces Petro Gazz in the first Final Four pairing, while ZUS Coffee battles PLDT in the second semifinal on Thursday, November 27, at the Big Dome.

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