Smart eked out a 26-16, 18-25, 25-20, 23-25, 15-11 victory over Cocolife in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference yesterday at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
Gretchel Soltones came through with big shots down the stretch to power the Giga Hitters to their second win in four games in the women’s club tourney bankrolled by Isuzu, Sogo, Asics, Mikasa, Mueller, UCPB Gen and Bizooku with Genius Sports as technical provider.
Meanwhile, Generika-Ayala extended Sta. Lucia’s losing streak to five following a 25-7, 25-11, 25-21 victory in the second game of the tournament also has ESPN5, Hyper HD and Aksyon TV as broadcast partners.
Patty Orendain finished with 16 points, while Marivic Meneses and Angeli Araneta also had 11 markers apiece for the Lifesavers, who improved to 2-3.
Generika-Ayala tallied 42 attacks compared to 14 hits of Sta. Lucia after 90 minutes of action.
Soltones, the former Most Valuable Player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, delivered 17 points laced with 16 digs and 25 excellent receptions for Smart, which also drew powerful performance from Czarina Carandang, Jerrili Malabanan and Joyce Sta. Rita.
Malabanan tallied 13 hits while Malabanan and Sta. Rita delivered 10 markers apiece.
“It was tough. Coming from two losses, it was really hard to regain our confidence,” said Sta. Rita.
