BanKo-Perlas bucked a spate of injuries to its key players as it foiled Motolite with its poise and class to fashion out a 25-23, 25-23, 25-18 victory yesterday and zero in on a podium finish in the PVL Open Conference at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.
Sue Roces flashed vintage form, putting up an impressive 55 percent attack performance (11 of 20) behind her vaunted “runners” while Dzi Gervacio and Jem Ferrer played through pain to help anchor the Perlas Spikers’ straight-set victory in the opener of their best-of-three series for third.
Motolite actually controlled the tempo in the opening frame and kept it close in the second but just couldn’t sustain their charge while failing to neutralize BanKo’s assault at the finish of each set.
Down 0-2, Motolite forced an 11-all count in the third but BanKo, behind Roces, Gervacio, Nicole Tiamzon, Kathy Bersola, Roma Doromal, took six of the next nine points to build a 17-14 cushion then held sway to the finish capped by another Gervacio hit at the middle that the Motolite defenders had failed to keep in play.
“It’s all about teamwork,” said Roces, who finished with 11 points in bagging the game’s top honors.
The crisp-hitting Tiamzon topscored with 13 hits, including 11 attack points, and added eight excellent receptions while Gervacio matched Roces’ output.
BanKo also lost Ella de Jesus in the second set after hurting her right foot but Doromal stepped up to score six points in two sets while Bersola came through with four kill blocks and finished with 10 markers.
Carlos and Myla Pablo put in a pair of 14-point games while Molde was held to seven markers while finishing with 13 digs for Motolite.
The Perlas Spikers, who bowed to the PetroGazz Angels in their Final Four face-off, shoot for the bronze on Saturday, also at 4 p.m. at the San Juan venue.
The Angels and the powerhouse Creamline Cool Smashers were slugging it out in the opener of their side of the finals at presstime.
While the veteran-laden BanKo-Perlas showed its composure, Motolite cracked under pressure and fell prey to its miscues, including a net violation that clinched the win for BanKo in the first set.
Threatening at 23-24 in the second frame on an Isa Molde’s through-the-block hit, Motolite yielded the set on a Tots Carlos’ attack error.
