Coming off a loss in their last out-of-town outing, the PayMaya High Flyers found their groove early and thwarted the Iriga-Navy Oragons in four sets, 25-23, 22-25, 25-20, 25-23, in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference at the Batangas City Coliseum.
The High Flyers cruised to a 24-20 lead in the first set, before Iriga-Navy crawled back and took the next three points. Averting a deuce, PayMaya went to import Tess Rountree to clinch the set. After letting the second set slip in the clutch, PayMaya responded and buried the Oragons, 22-15, behind balanced scoring from Jerrili Malabanan, Aiko Urdas, and Rountree.
Iriga-Navy had their moments in the fourth set, but they impeded their own progress with errors. Holding a 22-19 lead, the Oragons allowed PayMaya to go on a 5-0 run to grab match point. Leading 24-23, PayMaya escaped the match, fittingly, on a service error from Shaira Cabriana.
“Thankful kami sa panalo, pero hindi pa ito ‘yung alam kong kaya nilang laruin,” said PayMaya head coach Roger Gorayeb. “Medyo may gigil pa sa mga players. Lamang kami sa lahat ng sets kanina, nahahabol kami sa dulo. Kailangan namin ayusin ‘yun.”
Rountree finished with 24 points, while Shelby Sullivan and Aiko Urdas added 11 markers apiece.
Macy Ubben towed Iriga-Navy with 26 points while Lauren Whyte managed 20.
PayMaya (3-1) take on the BanKo-Perlas Spikers (1-2) on May 26 at the FilOil Flying V Centre. Iriga-Navy (1-1) face the Pocari Sweat-Air Force Lady Warriors (1-1) on May 23 also at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
The Scores
PayMaya (3) – Rountree 24, Sullivan 11, Urdas 11, Malabanan 9, Domingo 7, Nabor 4, Singh 2, Soltones 1, Carandang 0, Cayuna 0, Pantone (L)
Iriga-Navy (1) – Ubben 26, Whyte 20, Bombita 9, Kim 4, Eguia 3, Acuna 1, Raterta 1, Serafica 1, Madulid 0, Ticar (L)
