This was Medan Falcons' fourth defeat in the four matches they have played in the first round of the Proliga this season.
Quoted from the official Proliga statement, in that match, LavAni fielded its mainstay players namely Hendra Kurniawan, Boy Arnes, Dio Zulfikri, as well as the foreign player duo Taylor Sander and Nato Dickinson from the start.
However, Medan Falcons put up a fierce fight where they managed to equalize the score at 7-7 and 14-14 even though they ultimately lost 19-25 in that set.
In the second set, LavAni's defense was looser so that Medan Falcons managed to equalize the score 1-1 and win 25-22 at the end of the set.
A tight battle ensued in the third set, where LavAni rallied and forced a 20-20 draw after trailing 14-18.
Both teams went for points and LavAni secured the lead in the set 31-29.
In the fourth set, the Medan Falcons, trailing 5-1 early in the set. However, LavAni, featuring Indonesian national team players, remained calm and managed to turn the score around to 13-10 before closing out the set with a 25-20 victory.
After the match, Medan Falcons coach Ariyanto Joko Sutrisno said his team lost due to bad luck.
"We tried our best. We even went down to a few deuces in the third set . But after that, we have to admit the team made a lot of unforced errors. We need to improve our cover attack and our composure when we're ahead," said Ariyanto.
Meanwhile, despite winning, LavAni coach Erwin Rusli said that his team did not perform optimally.
"All the players played below their best performance, including the foreign players," said Erwin.
He also emphasized that his team would immediately evaluate LavAni's performance, including aspects of receiving the ball, serving and blocking.
