BNI to meet Perhutani to decide volleyball league

JAKARTA (JP): Defending champion Bank BNI women's volleyball team will face Bandung-based Perhutani in the 2000 national volleyball league (Livoli) to see if it can retain its title.

Bank BNI found no trouble in ousting Popsivo 3-0 (25-23, 25- 18, 25-15) in Friday's derby match. Bank BNI remains at top of the standings while Popsivo is fourth.

Petrogres of Gresik, East Java, had led 2-0 before going down in the third set but finally managed to outclass Perhutani 3-1 (27-25, 25-22, 15-25, 25-19). Petrogres stays in second place followed by Perhutani.

Should Bank BNI win Saturday's match, it will automatically grab the Livoli champion title. But if it fails, Bank BNI will have to fight real hard in Sunday's match.

The team's path to victory will not be easy as Petrogres is one of the toughest opponents. Bank BNI defeated Petrogres in last year's first leg series but lost in the second leg.

Petrogres will meet Popsivo on Saturday.

"It's difficult to predict the result. If Petrogres also win on Saturday, we will have to count on the overall points from the previous encounters or fight again on Sunday," said Bank BNI coach Teuku Djohan after the match.

Popsivo almost stole the first set after it managed to equalize 23-23. At the most critical moment, Djohan instructed his players to strengthen their defense.

"We almost lost the first set because we were too overconfident. But I had observed that Popsivo's players could not hit well. Later I found out that they could not hit hard. When they had almost lost, they even fielded junior players. Apparently, they were less prepared," he said.

Popsivo's coach Sarmili admitted that his team was not prepared for the final four.

"The team only trained four times before the final four. They couldn't develop the teamwork. At the same time, BNI has good players," he said.

Sarmili expressed the hope that his team could win Saturday's match.

Perhutani coach Suwandi Paweka said that the team had an equal chance to beat BNI. He said he had instructed his players to nail down BNI's top player Siti Nurjanah.

"We will play all out. We haven't won against BNI in the previous two meets. Hopefully, our players won't be discouraged after today's loss and can learn something from it," he said.

Meanwhile, Petrogres coach Shobirin said that his team was ready to take on anyone. But, he said that BNI player Wasti had put a jinx on his team.

"My players feel that Wasti is a very powerful striker, completely different from the others in the team," he said.

As for the men, Samator outplayed Perhutani 3-1 (25-18, 15-18, 21-15, 25-12). Samator will meet the winner of the match between Bank BNI and defending champion Yuso which was still being played as of the time of going to press.

"I'm not satisfied with my boys' performances today. Hopefully they will be fresher on Saturday," said Samator's coach Mashudi. (ivy)