Sta. Elena and Air Force fashioned out contrasting victories over Prima-FEU and Fury, respectively, to assure themselves of at least a playoff for the last semifinal berth in the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference at the Blue Eagle gym Thursday.
The Sta. Elena Ball Hammers struggled in the early going but completed an expected 28-26, 26-21, 25-13 victory over the winless Fury Blazing Hitters to hike their record to 6-2 heading to their final elims matchup with the Ateneo Eagles on Nov. 29.
The Air Force Agilas, on the other hand, fought back from two sets down and thwarted the Prima-FEU Tams, 23-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-23, 15-11, for a 5-1 mark with three games left in their elims schedule.
Instituto Estetico Manila, meanwhile, ended a seven-game skid with a 26-24, 25-23, 25-22 victory over Army, which slipped to 2-6.
Sta. Elena leaned on its superb blocking to blast Fury, producing 12 kill blocks, including five from Angelo Almendras, with Bryan Bagunas leading their attack with 13 hits.
Almendras actually matched that output while James Natividad added 10 hits in a two-set stint as the Ball Hammers poised themselves to join the PLDT Home Power Hitters (6-1) in the semis.
Geric Ortega fired 14 points for Fury, which took its seventh straight defeat.
Earlier, the Agilas charged back behind Alnakran Abdilla, Edwin Tolentino and Howard Mojica to turn back the Tams, who came out strong with back-to-back set victories but lost steam and poise in the face of the formers’ strong fightback in the next three frames.
Abdilla came away with a whopping 30-hit performance, including 25 attack points, while Tolentino and Mojica added 11 and 10 markers, respectively.
Four Prima aces turned in double-digit scores with Jude Garcia coming through with 17 points, Paul Bugaoan firing 14 hits, and Richard Solis and Peter Quiel adding 13 and 11 markers, respectively.