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Manila, Philippines – In Sunday’s episode of Philippine Super Liga action, the AirAsia Flying Spikers finally got back to their winning ways by taking care of the PLDT Home TVolution Power Attackers.
The Cagayan Province Lady Rising Suns also eked out a victory by thwarting the sinking Cignal HD Spikers, which still remains winless in the All-Filipino Conference.
Flying Spikers soar over Power Attackers in four sets
After dropping consecutive matchups and looking overwhelmed in the professional stage, AirAsia responded in fantastic fashion on Sunday, taking care of PLDT Home TVolution in 4 sets, 24-26, 25-19, 25-20, 25-18, at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
Spearheading the girls in red and white were Cha Cruz, who had 19 points, and the duo of Aby Marano and Stephanie Mercado, both of whom contributed 17 markers apiece.
AirAsia, which failed to receive a double-digit scoring output from anyone of its players in their recent loss to RC Cola, also got 10 points from veteran spiker Mic-Mic Laborte, while also receiving a fantastic performance from rookie May Macatuno, who scored three markers and recorded 27 excellent sets.
The Flying Spikers now improve to 3-2, taking hold of the third seed in the conference standings behind unbeaten Petron (3-0) and RC Cola (4-1). On the other hand, PLDT drowns to 2-3, good for second to last.
“Nag-bago kami nang setter… eh naging successful naman,” (we changed our setter. It was successful.) stated AirAsia head coach Ramil De Jesus after the game, before later adding that Macatuno, his new setter, will still need time to get incorporated with her teammates.
“Mas makikilala niya pa yung mga teammates niya,” De Jesus said. (She’ll get to know her teammates better.)
Watch more of Coach Ramil’s post-game comments below:
PLDT raced off to a quick start, using a critical run to go up 18-14 in the first frame.
The Power Attackers were paced by Suzanne Roces, who had 16 points. Lou Ann Latigay was the only other PLDT player to score in double-figures, putting up 11 markers.
Though the Flying Spikers bounced back to tie the contest, their opponents took advantage thanks to some poor reception and were able to win the first set.
AirAsia attacked back in the second and third sets, staying in control for majority of the time with Marano putting the finishing touches in each period to guarantee victory.
In the final quarter, the Ramil De Jesus-coached club was in control, 19-11, and moments away from ending its losing skid. But PLDT wouldn’t go down without a fight, leaning on a 4-0 run to get within striking distance. Nonetheless, a couple of scores from Cruz and errors from Roces and company proved to be the deciding factors of the match.
The stats show that PLDT Home TVolution outplayed AirAsia in some facets. The Power Attackers had more excellent digs than the Flying Spikers, 69-38, more excellent sets, 32-28, and scored off 28 errors, compared to just 23 from their opponents.
However, AirAsia obliterated PLDT in the blocks department, recording 18 to its opponents’ three.
Up next on the Flying Spikers’ schedule are the Petron Blaze Spikers, while PLDT will have to deal with Cignal soon.
Cagayan Province easily dispatches Cignal
The Cagayan Province Lady Rising Suns kept their hopes of making it to the playoffs of the PSL All-Filipino Conference alive by smoking the Cignal HD Spikers in 3 sets, 25-14, 29-27, 25-18.
Scoring experts Aiza Maizo and Pau Soriano had 16 and 8, respectively, for the winning side, while Janine Marciano and Wenneth Eulalio combined for 16 for the now 2-4 Lady Rising Suns.
Cignal, which was the runner-up in each of the last two SuperLiga conferences, drops to 0-4 with the loss in which it received 9 markers each from Danika Gendrauli and Honey Royse Tubino.
After looking lethargic to star the match and dropping the first set, Cignal bounced back to put up a better front in the second frame. Down by one, the HD Spikers managed to force Eulalio into committing an error, 27-27, sending the period to another extension.
However, Cagayan Province responded well, leaning on a Maizo score and Gendrauli error to take a 2-0 lead, which the HD Spikers could not mount back from.
Cignal will be back in action on Wednesday, June 18, when it takes on PLDT at 4:00 pm at the Cuneta Astrodome. – Rappler.com
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