Ateneo-Motolite coach Oliver Almadro kept preaching the virtue of courage and the Lady Eagles put up not just a gallant stand but showed a lot of heart to finally beat BanKo-Perlas, 25-21, 25-20, 26-24, and force a sudden death for one of the finals berths in the Premier Volleyball League Season 2 Open Conference yesterday.
In a game they could not afford to lose, the young Lady Eagles blew two match points but pulled through on a BanKo miscue and Bea de Leon’s block off Dzi Gervacio as they finally put one over their veteran rivals who swept them in three meetings this conference.
“It’s time for mental toughness and you have to be perfectly brave,” Almadro reminded his wards one last time after BanKo’s Nicole Tiamzon scored on a baseline hit and Joy Doromal hammered in a left-handed spike that forced a tie at 24 in the third frame.
But after the huddle, the Lady Eagles regained the lead on an overset by the Spikers and the former completed the stunning victory on a De Leon block off Gervacio’s attack that sent their best-of-three series to a deciding match set today (Sunday).
Falling short of their comeback bid in Game One last Wednesday that saw them rally from 0-2 set down but lost steam in the decider, the Lady Eagles put up a strong windup in the first two sets then battled back from a four-point deficit early in the third to make it a back-and-forth contest.
But the Spikers failed to shake them off this time as Ponggay Gaston, Kat Tolentino, Maddie Madayag, Julianne Samonte and De Leon responded to Almadro’s challenge and alternated to deliver the key points while cashing in on their rivals’ errors to stay ahead at 18-15.
Behind Gervacio and Tiamzon, however, the Spikers took five of the next seven points to draw level at 20 before Madayag and Samonte came through with a pair of hits and the Lady Eagles moved at match point on a pair of BanKo miscues against a Tolentino service error and a Sue Roces hit.
“We did our best and tried to learn from our mistakes,” said Gaston, who finished with 11 attack points and 10 excellent receptions and six digs to clinch the game’s top honors. “It was our only chance to get back at them and we showed we can do it.”
Tolentino added 10 hits, including seven kills and three kill blocks while De Leon chipped in eight markers for the team gearing up for the UAAP wars.
“What I’m telling my players was ‘no matter what, whichever team you’re playing, you just have to be brave and courageous in everything you do,” said Almadro. “And of course have faith in yourself, have faith in God and trust the team, trust each other.”
Gervacio put in a 14-hit performance while Roces and Tiamzon combined for 17 markers for the Perlas Spikers, who swept the Lady Eagles in the double round elims and reasserted their might in the series opener despite blowing a two-set lead.
Kathy Bersola struggled for six points for BanKo, which committed 25 errors.
