Air Force kept soaring with another superb all-around game, smothering first round tormentor BanKo-Perlas, 26-24, 25-8, 25-21, yesterday to further bolster its semifinal drive in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.
The Jet Spikers rode on the momentum of their stirring come-from-behind victory in the opening set and pounced on the disorganized BanKo-Perlas side in the next before holding sway to complete the victory and avenge their previous loss to the team in the same straight-set fashion last Aug. 17.
Veteran Joy Cases came away with 14 kills and finished with 15 markers to spearhead another impressive Air Force attack that came on the heels of the team’s string of victories over Chef’s Classics, Choco Mucho, PacificTown Army and Motolite.
After dropping its first five games, Air Force is now back in the hunt with five straight wins. Though they remained at sixth, the Jet Spikers now have the momentum and confidence needed in what looms to be a wild chase for the three semis slots.
BanKo-Perlas slipped to 6-4, now in joint third with a surging PacificTown Army with Motolite wresting solo second at 6-3 and PetroGazz aiming to hike its 5-2 card against winless Chef’s Classics at presstime.
With 10 straight wins, titleholder Creamline is a cinch to nail the first Final Four berth in the season-ending conference organized by Sports Vision and backed by Mikasa, Asics and KFC.
“Our hard work and training have been paying off. But we’re trying not to be pressured by our streak. We just play pressure-free, try to be more consistent and improve on our weaknesses,” said Cases.
They actually put on a strong finish in the opening frame, saving two set points aided by Dzi Gervacio’s attack errors and winning it by two on a Dell Palomata kill block and on Aby Nuval’s ace.
The Perlas Spikers failed to recover from that meltdown and the Jet Spikers pounced on their sloppy plays and rolled to an easy victory before the latter held sway in the third and took the victory on a Sue Roces’ tip that went wide.