by KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Games Saturday (The Arena, San Juan City)
2 p.m. – BanKo Perlas vs Pacifictown Army
Presentation of Individual Awards
4 p.m. – PetroGazz vs Creamline
BanKo-Perlas rallied from two sets down to outplay Pacifictown Army, 25-27, 10-25, 27-25, 26-24, 16-14, on Wednesday and move a win away from a bronze-medal finish in the Premier Volleyball League Season 3 Reinforced Conference at The Arena in San Juan City.
Nicole Tiamzon steered the Perlas Spikers with 18 points built on 15 kills including a hard-hitting spike that sent the game at matchpoint before an attack error from the Lady Troopers sealed their fate.
Thai reinforcement Sutadta Chuewlim also displayed offensive prowess for BanKo-Perlas by firing 14 spikes to finish with 15 points, while Dzi Gervacio chipped in 13 points.
Tiamzon and Chuewlim also protected the floor by posting 31 and 13 digs.
After a lackluster second-set performance, BanKo-Perlas slowly regained its usual touch by pulling away from a 22-all tie en route to a third-set victory.
Army showed resilience with Olena Lymareva- Flink and Royse Tubino waxing hot at the attack line, but Banko Perlas toughened up its net defense anchored on Kathy Bersola to prevail in the crucial moments and eventually to the match win.
Lymareva-Flink and Tubino finished with 26 and 24 points in a failed attempt to bring Army to victory as they try to even the best-of-three series on Saturday at the same venue.
Though Army dominated in offense with 78 kills and aced 10 serves, Banko Perlas managed with 11 blocks.
