After a heartbreaking loss to the Power Smashers last Saturday, the Perlas-BanKo Spikers rebounded with a tight four-set win against the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons 30-28, 21-25, 25-21, 25-18 in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
The Perlas Spikers faced a consistently resilient UP side. Neither team made pulled away in the first set with Perlas erasing a 21-24 gap and forcing a long deuce. Open hitter Ella De Jesus pulled BanKo out of the trade, scoring on back-to-back hits to give Perlas the early edge.
The Perlas offense then stalled in the second frame, allowing UP to control the pace until the end. The third frame opened with the Lady Maroons sprinting to a 7-2 lead before Perlas caught their breath. Whittling down the gap slowly, BanKo gained the edge, 19-17, after consecutive UP errors. From there, heads-up plays from Kathy Bersola and Nicole Tiamzon sealed Perlas’ 2-1 lead.
By the fourth set, the Lady Maroons struggled to limit their errors. The match ended on the trend, with UP coughing up back-to-back attack faults.
“We wanted to win. Heartbreaking talaga ‘yung last loss namin and we knew this match was going to be crucial kaya we wanted to show our desire and be consistent today,” said former Lady Maroon turned Perlas Spiker Nicole Timazon, who tallied 15 points.
Former Ateneo Lady Eagle Ella De Jesus pitched in 15 points while another ex-Lady Maroon Kathy Bersola provided 14 points for the Perlas Spikers, who improved their record to 2-3.
Team captain Diana Carlos led UP with 24 points while her batch-mate Isa Molde added 18. The Lady Maroons fell to a 1-4 card.
The Scores
Perlas-BanKo (3) – De Jesus 15, Tiamzon 15, Bersola 14, Roces 13, Ferrer 5, Tajima 3, Villanueva 2, Ahomiro 1, Acevedo 0, Ancheta 0, Tan (L)
UP (1) – Carlos 24, Molde 18, Layug 10, Estrañero 3, Sandoval 3, Bernadrdo 2, Gannaban 2, Cailing 1, Dorog 1, Basarte 0, Altomea (L)
