PLDT and Sta. Elena rode on the momentum of their gripping Game Two victories and repelled Air Force and Cignal, respectively, in their sudden death duels to arrange a showdown for the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference at the Blue Eagle gym in QC.
The PLDT Home Power Hitters lost in their power clash with the hard-hitting Agilas but banked on their hustle and spunk and pounced on their rivals’ miscues to pound out a 25-23, 18-25, 25-23, 25-17 victory.
The Sta. Elena Ball Hammers, on the other hand, survived three grueling sets against the Cignal HD Spikers, carving out a 27-25, 28-26, 25-22 decision in the other semis clash.
Air Force took Game One, 25-23, 25-23, 25-21, but PLDT struck back with a thrilling 23-25, 25-21, 25-18, 15-25, 15-12 escape while Sta. Elena battled back from two sets down to upend Cignal, 23-25, 22-25, 25-18, 25-16, 18-16.
Like the Agilas, the HD Spikers swept the Ball Hammers in the series’ opener, 25-19, 25-22, 26-24.
PLDT and Sta. Elena will dispute the crown in another best-of-three series starting Tuesday.
PLDT produced 47 hits against Air Force’s 56 but the Home Power Hitters scored 34 points off the Agilas’ errors while yielded 23 of their own miscues.
Mark Alfafara, Joshua Umandal and John Vic De Guzman combined for 33 hits for PLDT, barely edging Alnakran Abdilla’s superb 32-point game that went to naught.
Sta. Elena, meanwhile, overpowered Cignal with 53 spikes, 19 more than its rival, with Bryan Bagunas coming away with 24 of his 26 points and Angelo Almendras backing him up with 11 for a 12-point output and Kim Malabunga chipping in 11 markers.
Cignal kept the game closer all throughout by cashing in on Sta. Elena’s errors, scoring 30 points while giving away 16, but the latter proved steadier at endgame of each set to eke out the victory and gain a crack at the crown in the third season of the league organized by Sports Vision.