Experience—and number—triumphed over youth as Army Black Mamba subdued Choco Mucho, 25-22, 22-25. 26-24, 25-18, to fuel its semifinal drive in the Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan yesterday.
But the Lady Troopers needed to charge back from a second set stumble and a big deficit in the pivotal third to turn back their rivals, who sorely missed the services of two of their top hitters, and notch their second straight win after repelling Petro Gazz, also in four, following an opening game loss to Cignal for solo third.
Kat Tolentino, one of the leading scorers in the early going of the mid-season conference of the league organized by Sports Vision, and Des Cheng didn’t suit up, along with Chery Nunag and Thang Ponce, who were all indisposed, according to team report.
Army assistant coach Rico de Guzman admitted their main play was designed to containing Tolentino.
“We were really surprised after finding out she (Tolentino) wouldn’t play. But even without her, it didn’t come easy although we did exploit her absence,” said de Guzman, who took over from Kungfu Reyes.
But the Flying Titans still fought hard and rebounded in the second set but cracked when pressed by their seasoned rivals after taking command, 12-7, in the third, leading to a pressure-packed endgame where MJ Balse-Pabayo and Nene Bautista, still relentless in pursuit of victory and glory through the years, slammed in back-to-back hits to close the extended set.
It was an all-Army show in the fourth as the Flying Titans ran out of offensive options, enabling the Troopers to post an 18-11 bulge. Choco Mucho racked up four straight points but Army countered with three straight hits and the Flying Titans got no closer than three again at 18-21 before Honey Royse Tubino fired away back-to-back attacks after a Balse blast to wrap up the two-hour, four-minute victory.
“We played pressure-free. With a lot of veterans, this team doesn’t get rattled anymore,” said Ivy Perez, who delivered 27 excellent sets on top of nine points.
Skipper Jovelyn Gonzaga continued to provide leadership and class, scoring 13 points while Mary Anne Esguerra backed her up with 10 hits and Bautista also put in a nine-point effort for the Lady Troopers, who also drew eight points from Jeanette Villareal and six points apiece from Michelle Morente and Tubino.
Caitlyn Viray tried to rally the Flying Titans with her power hits but couldn’t finish the job and ended up with 15 points while Aduke Ogunsanya added 10 hits and her sidelining early in the fourth due to a slight injury after taking bad fall only compounded Choco Mucho’s offensive woes.
The Flying Titans, who also drew a combined 28-point output from Isa Molde, Deanna Wong, Bea de Leon, Ponggay Gaston, Regine Arocha and Shannen Palec, dropped to 1-2 and in danger of missing the four-team cut in the semis.
Choco Mucho actually yielded just four points in total attacks, 44-48, gave up four blocks (6-10) and three aces (3-6) but were outdueled in the stretch in the last two sets.