Locked in a tie in the standings, the Pocari Sweat Lady Warriors washed away the Bali Pure Purest Water Defenders’ winning streak to keep their own run alive with a 25-16, 12-25, 25-21, 25-19 in the tail-end of the 2016 Shakey’s V-League Reinforced Conference elimination round at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
American open hitter Bre Mackie led Pocari’s offense with 23 points, while Myla Pablo added 11.
Momentum sided with whoever took the lead early in each set. Pocari Sweat blasted Bali Pure with an early 10-3 blitz to easily take the first set. Bali Pure countered in the following frame, raining four aces in their opening 11-4 salvo.
The third set then began and ended with Mackie taking over for Pocari Sweat as the open hitter fired in three spikes to carry the Lady Warriors to an 11-6 advantage. She then quelled a furious Bali Pure rally late to secure the Lady Warriors’ 2-1 set lead.
Pocari then put the finishing touches on the match in the fourth set, starting with a 6-2 run then pulling away from a 14-all knot to take a 21-15 lead.
“Since we were already assured of the semis, I told my girls to treat this match as if it were already the semis. I’m glad thay they responded,” said Pocari head coach Rommel Abella. “There are still a lot of things we need to work on like our service receive. But, overall, I’n happy with where my team is now.”
Bali Pure’s American reinforcement Katherine Morrell towed their attack with 21 points, while Sue Roces managed 10 markers.
Pocari (5-1) have a chance to take the top seed when they face the University of Santo Tomas (5-1) in their elimination round finale. Bali Pure (4-2) seek to enter the semis with momentum as they take on the winless Coast Guard (0-6). Both matches will be on Wednesday at the PhilSports Arena.
The Scores
Pocari Sweat (3) – Mackie 23, Pablo 11, Gumabao 9, Tolenada 5, Dadang 4, Kacsits 3, Kasilag 1, Sy 1, Alvarez 0, Gohing (L)
Bali Pure (1) – Morrell 21, Roces 10, Ferrer 8, Soriano 8, Ahomiro 6, Manns 5, Devanadera 0, De Jesus 0, Lazaro (L)
