The Philips Gold Lady Slammers breezed through their final game of the elimination round, sweeping the Mane ‘n Tail Lady Stallions 25-21, 25-20, 25-20 in the Philippine Super Liga All-Filipino Conference at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Benilde product, Rossan Fajardo, broke out of her recent slump as she led the Lady Slammers with 12 points. Fajardo’s fellow open hitter, Myla Pablo struggled in the opening set but managed to get her act together and delivered 10 markers.
Middle blocker, Lutgarda Malaluan, has been a huge contributor in Philips’ recent success after being seldomly used for much of the season. Malaluan dished out eight points in the match and was virtually unstoppable whenever she got a good set. Philips Gold Libero, Melissa Gohing, played without any contact lenses on, but kept her usual omnipresent self on defense notching 10 excellent receptions and seven excellent digs in just two sets of action.
Mane ‘n Tail’s floor and net defense were passable in the loss but their attackers just couldn’t get anything cooking to power through Philips Gold’s blocking. Their leading scorer, Honey Royse Tubino, was held to just five points with a litany of attack errors. The only bright spot for Mane ‘n Tail was USJ-R product, Abi Praca who caught fire late in sets and wound up with 16 points. Open hitter, Danika Gendrauli paced Mane ‘n Tail with 10 markers.
The win evens Philips’ record at 5-5. They currently sit at third place and have accumulated 13 points. They need Foton to lose their last two matches without any of the matches going to five sets to remain in third place.
Mane ‘n Tail still has a match on Thursday against the Cignal HD Spikers. They are currently sitting at fifth place and will need Cignal to not gain more than three points in their next matches.
The Scores:
Philips Gold (3) – Fajardo 12, Pablo 10, Gumabao 9, Malaluan 8, Dadang 7, Tolenada 4, Dawis 4, Espelita 1, Loren 0, Gohing (L), Crisostomo (L)
Mane ‘n Tail (0) – Praca 16, Gendrauli 10, Tubino 5, Amad 4, Mabbayad 3, Amad 1, Dawson 0, Desengaño 0, Argarain 0, Cortel (L)
