AIR Force blew a 2-1 set lead and a 6-2 edge in the fifth but fought back from three down at endgame to hack out a 25-20, 22-25, 25-7, 22-25, 15-12 victory over Pocari Sweat yesterday in the Shakey’s V-League Season 13 Reinforced Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The Lady Jet Spikers rode on the power hits of May Ann Pantino, Judy Ann Caballejo, Jocemer Tapic and Joy Cases then pounced on the Lady Warriors’ erratic finish to pound out the victory.
Air Force likewise bucked the import-backed Pocari Sweat to bounce back from its four-set setback to the UST side in last Saturday’s inaugurals of the season-ending conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s.
Air Force took six of the first eight points in the decider but sputtered in the face of Pocari’s strong fightback that saw the Lady Warriors seize a 10-7 lead on a Michelle Gumabao ace.
But Cases took over, defying the Lady Warriors’ tall net defense with her vicious attacks and accounting for three of the Jet Spikers’ next five points, the last an off-the-block hit that shoved them on top 12-11.
Air Force went 2-up on a Breanna Mackie wide hit then the Jet Spikers’ cashed in on the Lady Warriors back-to-back errors to clinch the victory.
Despite boasting of imports in Mackie and Kay Kacsits and Fil-Am setter Iris Tonelada, the Lady Warriors still groped for form and had to lean on mainstays Myla Pablo and Gumabao to stay in the match.
Meanwhile, Customs sat out Kanjana Kuthaisong and Nattanicha Jaisen it its game against Laoag last night after the Thai reinforcements failed to secure their International Transfer Certificates in time for their second game.
The team has complied with all the requirements except for the ITC after the access codes that will allow them to get the ITCs for clearance to play have been denied.
“The BOC (Bureau of Customs) coaching staff, much to our surprise and concern, has been unable to access the Volleyball Information System (VIS) that contains the application of the International Transfer Certificate. Apparently, the access codes provided to LVPI have been denied,” said Ricky Palou of the organizing Sports Vision in a statement.
He, however, expressed confidence that the problem would be resolved soon.
“With the help of LVPI, we have requested help from the FIVB to resolve this and to ascertain what occurred with access codes. Hopefully, all will be resolved within the next 24 hours,” he said.
Customs also played minus Navy’s Pau Soriano and Lillet Mabbayad due to undisclosed reasons.
Earlier, Army held off 100 Plus, 28-26, 25-21, 19-25, 25-18, to join early winners Air Force and Cignal in the lead in the Spikers’ Turf Season 2 Reinforced Conference.
Patrick Rojas fired 19 hits while three others churned out double-digit scores as Army survived a first-set scare and rebounded from a third set foldup to deal 100 Plus its second straight loss.
Philip Bagalay unleashed a game-high 22 points while Jasper Adorador and Paul Cuzon combined for 24 points but the rest failed to step up as 100 Plus fell to 0-2 following its three-set setback to Air Force last Saturday.
Games Saturday
12:30 p.m. – Champion vs Army (S Turf)
4 p.m. – Coast Guard vs UP (V League)
6 p.m. – UST vs BaliPure (V League)