BaliPure blew a 2-0 set lead but fought back from three down late in the fifth to hack out a thrilling 25-15, 26-24, 24-26, 24-26, 15-13 victory over Pocari Sweat and force a sudden death for the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference crown at the Philsports Arena on Tuesday night (June 13).
Grethcel Soltones came through with two big hits in the decider, the first shattering a 12-all count and the other clinching the hard-earned victory for the Water Defenders, who also leaned on import Jennifer Keddy’s crucial block off the power-hitting Pocari import Krystal Rivers that made it 14-12.
Pocari pulled to within one on a BaliPure error in the next play.
They dispute the hotly contested crown tomorrow at 6 p.m., also at the Philsports Arena.
Pocari survived BaliPure’s fierce comeback in the third and fourth frames and pulled through on deuce points courtesy of a Desiree Dadang ace and a long hit by Water Defender Jennifer Keddy in the third and Myla Pablo and Jessie de Leon in the fourth.
The Lady Warriors looked headed to wrapping up their third straight crown after surging to a 9-6 lead in the decider. But the Water Defenders took the next two points on Soltones and Risa Sato coming out of a huddle then tied the match on a Pocari miscue.
After they traded hits, the Water Defenders came up with a kill block to grab an 11-10 lead only to yield the next two on a Michelle Strizak and Rivers’ hits. Another Pocari error enabled BaliPure to draw level before Soltones and Keddy combined to carry the Water Defenders to the series-tying win.
Earlier, Lorenzo Capate and Mark Alfafara took over in the clutch as Cignal HD carved out a tough 17-25, 27-25, 27-25, 16-25, 15-10 decision over Air Force yesterday to snare the men’s crown.
Capate keyed a crucial three-hit swing capped by an Alfafara’s off-the-block hit to put the HD Spikers at match point on their way to completing their one-hour, 48-minute victory and a sweep of their best-of-three series.
Capate finished with only eight points but gained the Finals MVP honors with Air Force Ranran Abdilla taking the Conference MVP plum. Abdilla actually saved a match point but Cignal skipper Ysay Marasigan came through off a combo play to clinch the championship for the HD Spikers.
Alyssa Valdez shared the spotlight as she captured the Conference MVP crown after powering Creamline to a 25-20, 11-25, 25-20, 25-19 victory over the Power Smashers to clinch third place honors in the women’s side of the season-opening conference of the league organized by Sports Vision.
Valdez, a three-time UAAP and V-League MVP, normed 20.7 points to emerge the top scorer while leading the spiking department with 37.32 percent success. The 23-year-old former Ateneo star, who also claimed the first Best Outside Spiker, also ended up second in service aces while contributing 2.47 digs per set.
Other top performers were BaliPure Grethcel Soltones (Second Best Outside Spiker), Risa Sato, also of BaliPure, (First Best Middle Blocker), Pocari Sweat’s Jeanette Panaga (Second Best Middle Blocker), Dimdim Pacres of the Power Smashers (Best Opposite Spiker), BaliPure’s Jasmine Nabor (Best Setter), Pocari’s Melissa Gohing (Be