Ranged against a tall, young squad boasting of one of the league’s leading hitters, BanKo-Perlas relied on their net defense to slow down Choco Mucho led by Kat Tolentino and post its first back-to-back victories in the Premier Volleyball League Season 3 Open Conference.
The Perlas Spikers held the former Lady Eagle, who normed 18 points in the Flying Titans’ first three games, to just eight markers, leading to their 25-18, 25-20, 25-23 victory late Wednesday for a hold of solo second place behind unbeaten Creamline (5-0).
Former UP stalwart Kathy Bersola stood at the forefront of BanKo-Perlas’ solid net defense, producing five kill blocks on top of putting up a team-high 15-point effort that helped break the team’s win-loss-win-loss-win roll for its first back-to-back romp in the season-ending conference of the league organized by Sports Vision.
“We did watch out for Kat since she’s the team’s top scorer,” said BanKo-Perlas’ skipper Nicole Tiamzon, who backed Bersola in offense by churning out an 11-hit showing, all via kills, as the Perlas Spikers moved up the ranking with a 4-2 card. “Kathy’s blocking helped us a lot.”
Tolentino had a forgettable 7-of-40 spiking clip, forcing Maddie Madayag to step up but even her 15-point output had failed to prevent the Flying Titans to drop to 2-2.
Aside from shackling Tolentino, Tiamzon also cited the returning Jem Ferrer’s playmaking skills, whose 22 excellent sets paved the way for the Perlas Spikers to score 51 attack points.
Veterans Dzi Gervacio and Sue Roces also chipped in 13 and eight markers, respectively, with Ella de Jesus adding six points and matching Gervacio’s seven excellent receptions.
BanKo-Perlas, meantime, hopes to build on its streak as it tries to close out its first round elims assignments with victories over BaliPure and Motolite in the next two weeks.