ANTIPOLO, Philippines – Pacifictown Army bagged the bronze after outlasting Banko Perlas in the 2019 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference winner-take-all battle for 3rd.

The Lady Troopers secured a podium finish by surviving a five-set thriller, 18-25, 25-16, 20-25, 25-15, 15-13, in Game 3 on Sunday, July 14, at the Ynares Center here.

Pacifictown rallied from a four-point deficit in the 5th set, 6-10, as veteran Jovelyn Gonzaga lifted the Lady Troopers down the stretch to seal the win.

“This time, hindi ako papayag na hindi mapasama sa podium, hindi kami manalo sa 3rd spot. Ang mentality ko talaga is I’ll give my best na para makatulong and ipanalo sa laban,” said Gonzaga, who scored 9 points, including the service ace that ended the match for Pacifictown Army.

(This time, I won’t settle for anyting less than a podium finish, I won’t let us lose the 3rd spot. My mentality is to give my best to help the team and win the game.)

Olena Lymareva-Flink fired a conference-high 32 points off 29 attacks, 2 aces and 1 block to lead Pacifictown’s offense.

Captain Nicole Tiamzon led Banko Perlas with 22 points to go with 8 excellent digs in the losing effort.

Initially, though, it seemed that the Game 2 loss did not dampen the Perlas Spikers’ performance as they dominated Pacifictown throughout the opening set.

The Lady Troopers quickly responded in the next frame, turning back Banko Perlas with a 9-1 run to close the set in their favor after a tight duel before the second technical timeout. 

Banko Perlas made a grand comeback in the 3rd frame with a 7-1 run midway through the set that gave them a 2-1 match advantage.

But by the 4th frame, league No. 3 Pacifictown again had Banko Perlas’ numbers as it overcame an error-filled run to force a deciding set. – Rappler.com