Playing with a sense of urgency, the Pocari Sweat Lady Warriors took a dominant, 25-22, 25-14, 25-22 straight-sets win over tormentors Philippine Air Force Jet Spikers, Saturday night at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
Pocari Sweat are now in the win column with a 1-2 slate, while Air Force dropped their second game in a row to fall to 1-3.
“Deflating talaga yung nangyari sa amin,” Pocari Sweat head coach Rommel Abella reflected about their two three-set losses to start the conference. “But I never lost confidence sa team namin.”
“Minor adjustments lang kinailangan namin kasi nag-improve kami from game one to game two. Hanggang 20 nakakalaban kami pero bumibitaw. Good thing, nag-perform yung leaders namin this game,” Abella furthered.
Team co-captain Myla Pablo towed the Lady Warriors with 23 points, 18 from attacks, two from kill blocks, and three from aces. Elaine Kasilag added 11 markers.
But even after notching their breakthrough win, Abella admits that there is still work to be done — especially after they committed 25 errors in the contest.
“Hopefully, eto na yung turnaround. Sabi ko nga sa kanila, kailangan muna natin ng isang panalo then we’ll go from there,” Abella explained. “Hopefully, ma-carry over namin ito.”
Kai Nepomuceno and Jeanette Panaga chipped in nine and seven markers respectively.
Jocemer Tapic paced Air Force with 11 points, while Angel Antipuesto added nine.
Pocari Sweat will next face the Perlas Lady Spikers on Tuesday, May 9. Air Force, on the other hand, hope they can snap out of their skid when they face the Power Smashers on Thursday, May 11.
The Scores:
Pocari Sweat (75) – Pablo 23, Kasilag 11, Nepomuceno 9, Panaga 7, Dadang 6, Sy 5, Cainglet-Cayetano 0, Gohing (L), Opp Errors 14.
Air Force (58) – Tapic 11, Antipuesto 8, Pantino 5, Yongco 4, Cases 4, Semana 1, Andaya 0, Legaspi 0, Abanto (L), Balmaceda (L), Opp Errors 25.
