After a heartbreaking five-set loss against the Philippine Air Force last Thursday, the Perlas Lady Spikers were able to pick themselves back up, taking a five-setter against the Power Smashers, 29-31, 24-26, 25-19, 25-23, 21-19, Saturday night at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
The win improves Perlas’ slate to 2-1 while the Power Smashers dropped to 1-2.
Amanda Villanueva paced Perlas with 18 markers, with all but a point coming from attacks. Former University of the Philippines Lady Maroon Kathy Bersola had 18 as well — 13 from spikes, and five from kill blocks.
“I think this time around, we had better a defensive pattern. Clearly, Air Force was very much aggressive with attacks,” said Perlas team manager Charo Soriano, as the firepower of Nes Pamilar’s squad made for 78 attacks. “We needed to adjust and focus on our defense.”
After the first two sets took 54 minutes to finish, the Power Smashers’ offense fizzled in the next two sets. In addition, Perlas was able to impose their height on their opponents.
And when the match reached a fifth and final set, it was a battle of attrition for both sides.
“This time around, we had less errors also. We were more aggressive than passive. I thing that’s proof of our maturity coming from out end,” Soriano declared.
With the game tied at 19-all, a kill block by Amy Ahomiro gave Perlas the advantage. Then, after a long rally, Regine Arocha, who tallied 20 points, gave up an attack error to seal the game for Perlas.
“We need to be mentally tougher as well. We need to make sure we have that competitive spirit,” Soriano remarked about the takeaways they had for the game. “But this win is a good morale-boost for us.”
Ahomiro added 14 points, while Perlas leading scorer Dzi Gervacio chipped in 12. Jem Ferrer dished out 56 excellent sets in the game.
The win wasted a conference-best 31 points from Arellano Lady Chief Jovelyn Prado. Dimdim Pacres had 15 points. However, the Power Smashers committed a horrid 45 points in the game.
Perlas will face defending Reinforced Conference champions Pocari Sweat on Tuesday, May 9. The Power Smashers take on the Creamline Cool Smashers on the same day.
The Scores:
Perlas (124) – Villanueva 18, Bersola 18, Ahomiro 14, Gervacio 12, Roces 8, Ferrer 6, Tiamzon 3, Acevedo 0, Devanadera 0, De Jesus (L), Opp Errors 45.
Power Smashers (118) – Prado 31, Arocha 20, Pacres 15, Marzan 10, Villegas 7, Guillema 4, Bicar 1, Kim 0, Simborio 0, Galang (L), Gillego (L), Opp Errors 30.
