The BanKo Perlas Spikers made it out of the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference elimination round with a four-set win over the Iriga-Navy Lady Oragons, 25-18, 23-25, 25-20, 28-26, at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
BanKo ended the elims with a 4-3 record and back-to-back wins. While the Perlas Spikers were out of contention for an outright semis berth even before today’s match, they wanted to keep building momentum after a rocky start.
“Marami kasi kaming naging struggles noong nga unang games namin. Para sa amin, kailangan lang namin ituloy-tuloy ‘yung magandang laro namin para sa sunod na round,” said BanKo head coach Dong Dela Cruz.
“Ngayon, kaya namin pa i-angat itong nilalaro namin. Second chance namin itong next round,” the former NU Lady Bulldogs coach added.
Kia Bright topped the Perlas Spikers with 27 points, while Jutarat Montripilia added 23 markers.
Lauren Whyte managed 26 points for Iriga-Navy, who fell to a 1-5 card.
BanKo will play Iriga-Navy, Pocari Sweat-Air Force, Bali Pure, Petro Gazz, and Tacloban in a round-robin quarterfinal round for the last two semis seats. Iriga-Navy face the top-seeded Creamline Cool Smashers (5-1) on Wednesday at the FilOil Flying V Centre to end the elimination round.
The Scores
BanKo (3) – Bright 27, Montripilia 23, Ahomiro 6, Dacoron 6, Ferrer 5, Tiamzon 4, Gervacio 3, Roces 1, Emnas 0, Villanueva 0, De Jesus (L)
Iriga-Navy (1) – Whyte 26, Ubben 17, Imbo 6, Acuna 5, Eguia 3, Cabriana 2, Bombita 1, Serafica 1, Kim 0, Madulid 0, Raterta 0, Ticar (L)
