The Iriga-Navy Lady Oragons rallied from sizable deficits and earned their first win in the Premier Volleyball League Women’s Reinforced Conference quartersfinals against the Chooks-to-Go-backed Tacloban Fighting Warays, 25-9, 21-25, 26-28, 25-21, 15-13 at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Iriga-Navy needed to regain composure after letting a tight third set slip away. Forcing a decider with a convincing fourth set triumph, the Oragons stumbled in the final set.
Tacloban capitalized on Iriga-Navy’s errors, grabbing a 6-1 lead. Following a timeout, the Oragons hit their stride.
“Sabi ko sa kanila ibuhos na nila. Kung ito na ‘yung mga huling games natin sa liga na ‘to, bigay na natin ‘yung best natin,” said Iriga head coach Egay Rusit.
The Lady Oragons slowly chipped away at the lead until Tacloban took a 13-11 lead after a Jovie Prado hit. From there, Iriga-Navy took control, going to import Macy Ubben for two of their next three points. Lauren Whyte then capped the match, catching a break when her serve flirted with the net before settling into the unexpecting Tacloban side.
“Marami pa kaming mga nagiging problema. Kanina nasolusyunan namin ‘yung problema naming hindi namin matapos ‘yung mga laban,” added Rusit.
Ubben and Whyte scored 25 points each. Grazielle Bombita added eight markers.
Iriga-Navy (1-2) faces BanKo (1-0) on Wednesday at the FilOip Flying V Centre.
Hyapa Amporn topped Tacloban with 20 points off 17 attacks, a block, and two aces. Jovie Prado managed 15.
Tacloban (0-3) takes on Pocari Sweat (2-0) next Saturday at the same venue.
The Scores
Iriga-Navy (3) – Ubben 25, Whyte 25, Bombita 8, Eguia 4, Imbo 4, Kim 3, Serafica 3, Cabriana 2, Dela Cruz 2, Ticar (L)
Tacloban (2) – Amporn 20, Prado 15, Alvarez 10, Saengmuang 7, Esguerra 6, Guillema 3, Marzan 2, Abil 0, Panteleon 0, Arocha (L), Galang (L)
