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The Gresik Petrokimia women’s team tasted its first defeat of the season, losing 25-23, 26-24, 22-25, 25-20 to Jakarta BNI 46 in the Indonesian Professional Volleyball League in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Friday.

Surabaya Samator, the defending men’s Proliga champion, also saw its winning streak halted in a 28-26, 24-26, 20-25, 25-15, 15-11 loss to Jakarta BNI 46.

Petrokimia and Samator went into their respective matches on a run of three straight wins.

Petrokimia coach Qi Lixia said his players played below par.

“They made a lot of errors and that cost us the game,” the Chinese coach said.

Lixia also lost libero Yulis Indahayani and Chinese import Hu Qifeng, who went down with knee injuries in the third set.

By virtue of leading the standings at this point of the tournament, however, Petrokimia secured the half-season championship and Rp 10 million ($1,000).

BNI is in second place behind Petrokimia, but its coach, Sukirno, said the team had yet to reach its full potential.

“My players didn’t play well enough. They won the first two sets and although they were in position to win the third, they let it get away,” Sukirno said.

“But we’ll find a way to improve the team. I’m sure we can look for ways to get better in the next round.”

After the season’s fourth series ends on Sunday, the Proliga will hold an All-Star match in Cirebon, West Java, on March 28.

The fifth series will be held in Gresik, East Java, on April 9. Volleyball