The BanKo Perlas Spikers claimed solo hold of the top spot in the PVL Open Conference standings, sweeping the erstwhile unbeaten Ateneo-Motolite Lady Eagles, 27-25, 25-19, 25-11, at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Ateneo opened the match strong, rallying 16-19 down to tie the match via a 3-0 blitz. Both team slugged it out into a deuce which came down an exchange errors ending in BanKo’s favor.
Stellar serving propelled BanKo from a 15-all tie to a decisive 20-16 lead in the second frame. Ateneo tried to rally back, but a string of their late errors from attack and serve pushed the Perlas Spikers to a 2-0 sets lead.
Closing the match strong, BanKo again capitalized on Ateneo’s reception struggles, building a 16-4 lead and never looking back.
“Na-challenge lang siguro ang mga players namin kasi parehas kaming walang talo eh,” said BanKo head coach Dong Dela Cruz. “Siguro na-challenge ang mga players namin and gusto naming manalo.”
Nicole Tiamzon led BanKo with 17 points, while Dzi Gervacio followed her 24-point outing last night with 14 points against her alma mater.
Kat Tolentino continued to lead Ateneo-Motolite, tallying 11 markers while Maddie Madayag added 10.
BanKo (4-0) go for their fifth straight win against the Tacloban Fighting Warays (2-2) on Wednesday at the same venue. Ateneo (2-1) will try to bounce back against the Iriga-Navy Oragons (0-4) on Saturday.
The Scores
BanKo (3) – Tiamzon 17, Gervacio 14, Bersola 11, Dacoron 6, Ferrer 5, Doromal 3, Villanueva 3, Ahomiro 0, Emnas 0, De Jesus (L), Tan (L)
Ateneo-Motolite (0) – Tolentino 11, Madayag 10, De Leon 6, Wong 4, Gandler 3, Gequillana 2, Fanger 0, Maraguinot 0, Raagas 0, Peralta (L), Ravena (L)
