Games Saturday
(Philsports Arena, Pasig City)
10:30 a.m. – IEM vs Army (men’s)
12:30 p.m. – 100 Plus vs Cignal (m)
4 p.m. – Pocari vs BaliPure (w)
6 p.m. – Air Force vs Customs (w)
Bureau of Customs recovered from a slow start before it pummeled Coast Guard, 25-18, 25-12, 25-18, yesterday to book the third semifinal berth in the Shakey’s V-League Season 13 Reinforced Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
The BoC Transformers struggled with their reception and trailed early, 8-6, before slowly regaining their old form to clinch their fourth win against two losses at third place.
With the win, Customs joined University of Santo Tomas (5-1) and Pocari Sweat (4-1) in the next round.
Customs Coach Sherwin Meneses shuffled his lineup and gave his second stringers more playing time, but Alyssa Valdez still shone for the BoC Transformers with 14 points highlighted by 11 kills.
Import Kanjana Kuthaisong chipped in seven points, while Michiko Castañeda and Lilet Mabbayad contributed five points each.
Thai setter Natthanicha Jaisaen also silently stood out with 26 excellent sets.
“Kailangan pa rin naming i-improve yung first ball namin kasi kung hindi maganda ang first ball namin, mahihirapan yung mga wing spikers,” said Meneses.
Coast Guard, already out of semis contention, stumbled anew by absorbing its sixth consecutive defeat in as many outings.
Samantha Dawson was the lone double digit scorer for the Coast Guard Lady Dolphins with 11 points.
In the Spikers’ Turf, early semifinalist Air Force bested Instituto Estetico Manila, 22-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-21, to remain unbeaten after four matches.
Former NCAA Most Valuable Player Howard Mojica pumped in 15 kills to finish with 16 points for the Jet Spikers, even as Reyson Fuentes fired 13 points built on 11 attacks and two blocks.
IEM fell to a 2-2 mark despite Khenno Franco topscoring with 17 points.
Air Force struggled with its serves and made up in its offense by firing 61 spikes.
