By Jerome Lagunzad
Games Tomorrow (The Arena, San Juan City)
4:15 p.m. – Generika-Ayala vs Cignal
7:00 p.m. – Foton vs Sta. Lucia
Fil-Am hitter MJ Phillips and Canadian import Marisa Field made the Giga Hitters pay dearly for their poor reception with a pair of clutch hits while setter Rebecca Rivero delivered the game-clinching service ace to help the Lady Realtors avert what could be a monumental collapse.
The hard-earned victory enabled Sta. Lucia to bounce back from a four-set loss to defending champion F2 Logistics last week and jacked up its mark to an even 3-3 mark, tying idle Cignal for the fourth spot in the process.
The power-hitting Silva racked up 40 points, just a solitary point away from matching the league’s highest output recorded by Serbian counterpart and former Foton reinforcement Sara Klisura last year, but she still could not prevent Smart from coming up empty-handed for the seventh straight time in the opening round.
“We tried our best to stop her in the first and second sets. But in the third and fourth sets, she’s simply unstoppable,” said Sta. Lucia coach George Pascua of Silva, who had 37 attacks, two blocks and a service ace in her game-long brilliance.
“I told the team that we should grab the lead at least before Silva rotates in front. I’m glad that we were able to do that and Dana (Anisova) connected a lucky ace for the win.”
Silva was at her best in the third set where she helped the Giga Hitters overhaul a 12-16 deficit and stay alive by scoring the frame’s last three points, capped by a vicious kill that went out off the block.