Sweeping Two Top Teams, Jakarta Pertamina Enduro Optimistic About Making a Surprise in the 2025 Proliga Final Four

PALEMBANG, KOMPAS – After breaking the record of 10 consecutive wins of Jakarta Popsivo Polwan, the Jakarta Pertamina Enduro women's volleyball team crushed Jakarta Electric PLN with a landslide score of 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-22) on the second day of the last week of the regular round of Proliga 2025 in Palembang, South Sumatra, Saturday (22/2/2025). The two wins over the two top teams made Pertamina Enduro optimistic that they could make a surprise in the final four.

Pertamina Enduro showed an extraordinary graph in the last week of the regular round. On the first day, surprisingly, they defeated Popsivo Polwan with a score of 3-1 (32-30, 16-25, 25-16, 25-18). In addition to ensuring a ticket to the final four, the victory also tarnished the perfect performance of Posivo Polwan who had previously been undefeated.

Pertamina Enduro's confidence also peaked. It became a valuable asset that led them to crush Electric PLN. The victory made Pertamina Enduro surge to second place with 22 points from 12 matches. On the other hand, Electric PLN dropped to third place with 20 points from 12 matches.

Pertamina Enduro coach from Turkey, Bulent Karslioglu said, the positive performance was the result of a comprehensive evaluation after they suffered two consecutive defeats, namely 1-3 from Bandung Bjb Tandamata on February 15 in Pontianak, West Kalimantan and 1-3 from Gresik Petrokimia Pupuk Indonesia on February 8 in Bandung, West Java. The two lucky defeats had made them panic.

"Proliga is a new competition for me so I need time to learn about this competition and the character of local players. However, with the evaluation last week, we can understand each other better. That allows us to prepare a more appropriate strategy so that we are more ready to face the last two matches here," said Karslioglu.

Pertamina Enduro Setter, Tisya Amallya Putri did not deny that the victory over Popsivo Polwan and Electric PLN improved their confidence. They are also more optimistic in facing the final four. "However, we must not be complacent. We must continue to prepare ourselves well by fixing every deficiency. Because, other teams will also improve themselves to prepare themselves for the final four," said Tisya.

However, we cannot be complacent.

Pertamina Enduro Manager Widi Triyoso said that his team's mentality had fallen due to two consecutive defeats before leaving for Palembang. However, two wins in Palembang made them confident again. "This confidence must be maintained to face the final four," he said.

Meanwhile, Electric PLN assistant coach Alim Suseno said that his team did not force themselves in the final match. This was shown by not fielding one of their foreign players. "We have entered the top four. So, we chose to save one of the foreign players for the next round," said Alim.

Regarding the competition in the final four, Alim assessed that the results of the regular round cannot reflect the competition map in the next round. The reason is, entering the final four, each team will definitely improve. Therefore, the competition will be tighter and harder to predict. "The top four is something different. Everything will start from zero again. Later, whoever is more prepared will have a better chance," he said.

PLN Electric Setter, Dewi Intan Sari said, the match against Pertamina Enduro was an opportunity for local players to get playing minutes. She believes the opportunity is very useful to prepare mentally to compete before the final four.

"Basically, the presence of foreign players is to help local players. If local players are more ready to compete, of course the presence of foreign players will make the team stronger," Dewi said.