BACARRA, ILOCOS NORTE — Coming off a loss against Petro Gazz, Black Mamba-Army picked up its first victory against a valiant Bali Pure team, 25-16, 25-27, 25-21, 26-24, in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference here at the PCV Socio-Civic and Cultural Center on Tuesday night.
Down by two, Royse Tubino sparked a 4-0 run to give Army a 20-18 advantage in the fourth set.
A back and forth swing locked the scores at 23-all before Geneveve Casugod pulled BaliPure at set-point after a drop.
Jovelyn Gonzaga scored an off-the-block hit before Ging Balse-Pabayo converted two kills to end the match.
“Luckily nanalo pero yung laro medyo malayo pa dun sa hinihingi namin na performance. Considering na nanalo kami nung first set tapos bigla kaming bumababa, biglang baba yung balikat,” said Army head coach Kungfu Reyes. “So ayun ang kailangan naming tingnan kasi halos mga naglalaro samin mga beterano pa.”
Tubino topped the scoring department 19 points — 17 of which coming from attacks.
Team captain Jovelyn Gonzaga chipped in 13 points, 16 excellent digs, and 12 excellent receptions for a triple-double while Angela Nunag manned the defense with 27 excellent digs and 17 excellent receptions.
Army, through a combined effort from the squad, took a one-to-nothing advantage after taking a 25-16 set over BaliPure.
Come the second set, the Lady Troopers raced to a 16-12 advantage before the Water Defenders snatched the lead after a 6-1 run, 18-17. BaliPure eventually took the set, 27-25.
Army mounted a come-from-behind 9-1 rally in the third set to score a 25-21 win for the 2-1 lead.
Grazielle Bombita led the young Water Defenders with 18 points while Bern Flora finished with 15 points, 27 excellent digs, and 23 excellent receptions.
Black Mamba-Army will face a daunting task on Thursday as they go up against Creamline at 3:00 PM while BaliPure will try and bounce back against Chery Tiggo at 6:00 PM on the same day.
