Sta. Lucia stuns Cignal in tight three-setter

With their head coach facing off his former team, the Sta. Lucia Lady Realtors gave George Pascua a form of vindication, outlasting the Cignal HD Spikers in three sets, 32-30, 25-22, 25-21, at the FilOil Flying V Centre.

The entire match featured back-and-forth rallies, with both teams going on short bursts. The HD Spikers clung to a 19-16 lead in the opening set, before the Lady Realtors rallied and dragged the frame into the longest deuce of the conference. Sta. Lucia straddled the advantage for most of the set until Bohdana Anisova and Mar-Jana Phillips conspired to put Sta. Lucia over the edge via back-to-back transition kills.

The second set had the Lady Realtors trailing, 13-15, before another burst tied the set at 22. From there, Cignal’s poor reception allowed the Lady Realtors to close the set, with Anisova putting away an over-passed ball.

Sta. Lucia then closed the match strong, erasing Cignal 19-16 lead and taking nine of the match’s last 11 points.

“Familiar din kasi ako sa Cignal kahit papaano and alam ko rin naman kung sino ang mga dapat targetin and priority namin ‘yung dalawang imports nila sa blocking and naging effective naman,” pointed out Sta. Lucia head coach George Pascua, who spent 2017 as the chief mentor for the HD Spikers.

“Desire ng team na ‘yung game plan namin ma-execute (ang nagpanalo sa amin). Sabi ko nga sa kanila hindi naman kailangan iisa lang ang papatay ng bola sa atin, kailangan distribution ng bola para hindi tayo mabasa ng kalaban kasi sila madaling basahin kasi dalawa lang ang lagi eh kaya mas madaling i-block,” the current FEU Lady Tamaraws head coach added.

Anisova finished with 23 points, while Philiips added 16.

Jeana Horton tallied 21 points to power Cignal while Sonja Milanovic added 16 markers.

The Lady Realtors evened their record at 2-2. They take on F2 Logistics Cargo Movers (2-1) on Tuesday at the Imus Sports Center. Cignal (2-2) also face F2 Logistics on Thursday at the FilOil Flying V Centre.

The Scores

Sta. Lucia (3) – Anisova 23, Phillips 16, Field 8, Berte 4, Laborte 4, Rivera 1, De Leon 0, Lastimosa 0, Sabete 0, Moncks (L)

Cignal (0) – Horton 21, Milanovic 16, Vivas 4, Daquis 3, Navarro 2, Masangkay 1, Sante 1, Macatuno 0, Dionela (L)