Tacloban keeps slim chance at semis alive, sweeps Adamson-Akari

The Tacloban Fighting Warays remain in the hunt for the last Premier Volleyball League Open Conference semis seat, whipping the depleted Adamson-Akari Lady Falcons, 25-11, 25-12, 25-19, at the FilOil Flying V Centre.

Tacloban quickly sprinted to big leads in each set, as the Lady Falcons struggled to establish their offense. The Fighting Warays finished with a 45-21 spiking advantage. They also limited their errors to a season-low 13 errors, while the Lady Falcons coughed up 22.

With a 6-7 record, Tacloban are a half a game ahead of Pocari Sweat (5-7), and a game behind fourth-placed Petro Gazz (6-5).

With their semis hopes completely out of their hands, Tacloban head coach Nes Pamilar urged his players to stay focused on winning their last match against the BanKo Perlas Spikers.

“Nandoon pa rin ‘yung chance, so sabi ko nga sa mga player na ituloy-tuloy natin. Hindi pwede mag-relax hanggang sa huli. Marami pang pwedeng mangyare. Pwedeng two-way tie, pwedeng three-way. Kailangan focused lang kami sa dulo,” said Pamilar.

Dimdim Pacres led the Fighting Warays with 17 points, while Jovie Prado added 13.

Lady Falcons leading scorer Bernadette Flora missed the match due to back spasms. Middle blocker Lea Perez rolled her ankle during last Friday’s practice.

Rookies Trisha Genesis and Krich Macaslang topped Adamson with seven and six points, respectively.

Adamson (0-11) face the Petro Gazz Angels tomorrow at the same venue.

The Scores

Tacloban (3) – Pacres 17, Prado 13, Esguerra 4, Guino-o 4, Bicar 3, Delos Reyes 3, Tubiera 3, Alvarez 2, Negrito 2, Guillema 1, Tubiera 1, Velez 0, Galang (L), Luzon (L)

Adamson-Akari (0) – Genesis 7, Macaslang 6, Pinar 5, Roque 4, Uy 4, Ave 3, Igao 0, Yandoc 0, Ponce (L)