DEFENDING champion Pocari Sweat-Air Force inched closer to a semifinals berth as the Lady Warriors survived the BaliPure Water Defenders in five sets, 29-27, 20-25, 19-25, 26-24, 15-13, in the quarterfinals of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Season 2 Reinforced Conference on Wednesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
Pocari Sweat-Air Force clawed back from two match points in the fourth set to force a decider behind Myla Pablo’s set-winning hit.
The Lady Warriors rode their huge fourth-set momentum and jumped to a 7-4 lead in the decider and and hung tough at 12-9 on Pablo’s down-the-line hit.
But Janisa Johnson, who finished with 35 hits for BaliPure, scored two of the Water Defenders‘ four straight points to tie the match at 13-all.
An error by Mhicaela Belen followed by Madeline Palmer’s game-winning hit pushed Pocari Sweat to the victory and a grip of solo second place with a 3-1 win-loss record—a win shy of joining outright semifinalists Creamline and PayMaya.
“They woke up and regained their confidence when I told them that we are playing high-school players carried by imports. So we cannot lose the game because we are veterans,” Pocari Sweat Head Coach Jasper Jimenez said.
Pablo led Pocari Sweat-Air Force with 22 points on 17 spikes, four blocks and an ace with 14 receptions. Palmer chipped in 21 points, while fellow import Arielle Love added 14.
BaliPure dropped to 1-2, despite Johnson’s 35-point effort. Alexis Matthews had 19 hits, while locals Roselyn Doria, Faith Nisperos and Belen added 14, 13 and 11, respectively.
Air Force, meanwhile, downed Instituto Estetico Manila, 25-19, 25-19, 17-25, 25-22, to bag the last semifinals berth in the men’s division also on Wednesday.
National University stars Fauzi Ismail and Bryan Bagunas unloaded 16 and 15 points, respectively, to carry the Jet Spikers to the semifinalists alongside Cignal, Vice Co. and quarterfinals leader PLDT.
Air Force, which won two straight matches in the quarterfinals, battles PLDT for the No. 3 seed in the semifinals on Saturday.
Men’s national standout Ranran Abdilla was also instrumental for the Jet Spikers with 10 hits as well as Reyson Fuentes and Rudolfo Labrador, who had eight hits each.
Greg Dolor had a 22-point effort for IEAM, which bombed out of contention after losing its second straight quarterfinals game together with Army (0-2).