BACARRA, ILOCOS NORTE — Black Mamba-Army scored its third win after taking down Perlas in four sets, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-13, in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference at the PCV Socio-Civic and Cultural Center, Thursday.
The Lady Troopers upped their slate to 3-5 — handing the Perlas Spikers their fourth-straight loss.
“At least we want to finish on a high note kahit papano at least mag stay kami dun sa gitna,” said Army head coach Kungfu Reyes.
Army put up a huge 17-8 advantage after the second technical timeout of the fourth set to fend off Perlas.
The Lady Troopers got their biggest lead in the set at 11, 23-12, off a Ging Balse-Pabayo block on Cherry Nunag.
Jem Gutierrez placed Army at match-point off a hit before converting an ace to end the match.
“Loose laro nila, naka-relax kahit papano. ‘Yun gusto namin, ine-enjoy nila ‘yung laro. ‘Yung talagang kailangan naming ipanalo naming nung nakaraan, hindi naming nakuha,” he said.
Jovelyn Gonzaga led the Lady Troopers with 17 points — all coming from attacks. She also had 31 excellent digs and eight excellent receptions.
Balse-Pabayo added 14 points, while Royse Tubino and Joanne Bunag chipped in 13 and 11 markers, respectively.
Emnas churned the offense with 23 excellent sets laced with 18 excellent digs.
Army had a strong showing in the opening set but could not weather Perlas’ surge. Down one set, the Lady Troopers returned the favor in the second and third sets to take 2-1 advantage.
Nunag finished with 18 points off 14 attacks and four blocks for Perlas while Jho Maraguinot tallied 17 in the loss.
Perlas dropped to a 1-6 record.
Army will end its PVL campaign against Cignal on Saturday at 4:00 PM. Meanwhile, Perlas will battle Creamline tomorrow, Friday at 1:00 PM.
