The Pocari Sweat-Air Force Lady Warriors remain unscathed in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference quarterfinals after throttling the Iriga-Navy Oragons, 23-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-22, at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Struggling on receive, a slew of attack errors haunted Pocari Sweat-Air Force in the first set and allowed Iriga-Navy to gain the early edge.
From there, however, the Lady Warriors took control of the match. Behind balanced outputs from their two imports Arielle Love and Maddie Palmer, and their two locals Myla Pablo and Jeanette Panaga, Pocari Sweat overwhelmed Iriga-Navy.
“So ‘yun unang sinabi ko kanina bago mag-umpisa, strong start. Eh kaso, nabaliktad. Parang diesel,” rued Pocari Sweat head coach Jasper Jimenez.
“‘Yun nga, siguro kailangan muna sila masaktan siguro. Pagdating ng second set, ‘yun ang ginawa namin. Strong start, tapos ‘yung service namin, gumana. ‘Yun ang malaking factor namin sa second set, na-target namin ‘yung import. Timing siguro ‘yun, nawalan ng receive, nagdire-diretso hanggang sumunod na ‘yung offense namin. Noong una wala kaming pasa. Tapos basang-basa kami,” the enlisted Air Force personnel furthered.
Palmer led the Lady Warriors with 19 points, 15 digs, and 19 excellent reception. Love added 18 markers, while Pablo tallied 14.
Macy Ubben powered in a game-high 27 markers while Lauren Whyte ticked 18 points. Both were the only Oragons in double-digits.
Pocari Sweat-Air Force (2-0) face the BanKo-Perlas Spikers (1-0) on Saturday at the FilOil Flying V Centre. Iriga-Navy (0-2) take on fellow winless squad Tacloban Fighting Warays (0-2), also on Saturday.
The Scores
Pocari Sweat-Air Force (3) – Palmer 19, Love 18, Pablo 14, Antiphesto 9, Panaga 8, Yongco 4, Palomata 1, Andaya 0, Kasilag 0, Pantino 0, Semana 0, Balmaceda (L), Tempiatura (L)
Iriga-Navy (1) – Ubben 27, Whyte 18, Imbo 8, Eguia 6, Serafica 2, Acuna 0, Bombita 0, Cabriana 0, Dela Cruz 0, Kim 0, Ticar (L)
