The rejuvenated Philips Gold Lady Slammers demolished the visibly weary Mane ‘n Tail Lady Stallions in straight sets, 25-19, 27-25, 25-16 for their first win in three games at the San Juan Arena.
The Lady Slammers were able to flip their gears easily, even though they were coming off a tough match just yesterday. Philips Gold minimized their errors from 34 yesterday to just 19 today. Also, the Lady Slammers’ main guns came out and fired a balanced scoring attack led by Myla Pablo’s 14 markers. Michelle Gumabao and Roseann Fajardo pitched in 10 points each to round out the Philips Gold offense which put out more block kills (9-3) and service aces (11-5) than the newly formed Mane ‘n Tail squad.
The match’s early goings heavily favored the Lady Slammers as they handily took the first set. The Lady Stallions kept the pace up until they trailed, 11-10 when the Lady Slammers turned up their offensive pressure behind auspicious setting from Iris Tolenada.
Tolenada continued to get her team’s offense going in the second set as Gumabao and Pablo attacked the hapless front court defense of the Lady Stallions. They held a 20-16 lead late before Mane ‘n Tail’s Honey Royse Tubino and Abigail Praca pulled their team back to a deuce. Philips Gold looked like they were going to cough up the set, but a missed call on a check ball went in favor of the Lady Slammers which gave them the advantage in the deuce. Michelle Gumabao put away the set with a powerful down-the-line hit.
Mane ‘n Tail battled hard in the third frame, taking an early 11-7 lead. The Lady Slammers whittled the lead away behind Myla Pablo’s attacks. Philips Gold took the lead, 12-11, and never looked back, as Mane ‘n Tail’s offense crumbled in front of the Lady Slammers’ superior blocking.
Former NCAA MVP, Royse Tubino led Mane ‘n Tail in scoring with 15 markers all off attacks. Tubino, however, was the only Lady Stallion who scored in double digits.
“I just encouraged my team with an inspirational talk before the game. Thankfully it worked. Halata namang nag-aadjust pa kami sa isa’t isa, pero magandang first step ito para sa amin,” said Philips Gold Coach Francis Vicente.
Philips Gold is now tied with Mane ‘n Tail with a 1-2 record.
The Scores:
Philips Gold (3) – Pablo 14, Gumabao 10, Fajardo 10, Dadang 8, Tolenada 6, Mea 6, Loren 1, Mallare 1, Gohing (L)
Mane ‘n Tail (0) – Tubino 15, Mabbayad 7, Genrauli 7, Gustillo 5, Praca 5, Dawson 1, Argarin 1, Diaz (L), Cortel (L)
