Air Asia soars past PLDT in 4 Flying Spikers rise to 3rd

MANILA, Philippines — Air Asia returned to its winning ways by finishing strong to down PLDT Home TVolution, 24-26, 25-19, 25-20, 25-18, Sunday in the Philippine Superliga All Filipino Conference volleyball at Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.

It was just the third win in five games for Air Asia, which grabbed solo third place, while PLDT fell to 2-3.

The Flying Spikers started out cold, trailing the Power Attackers most of the opening set before tightening up their defense to finish with 18 blocks as against the three of their rivals.

“We are a team that is not a very strong server, and not a very good service receiver either,” said Air Asia coach Ramil de Jesus. “So we had to make adjustments right there and then in the court.”

What made things a little easier for Air Asia was the way PLDT committed costly errors while playing without intensity for most of the match. Cha Cruz starred for Air Asia with 19 points while Stephanie Mercado and rookie Abby Marano added 17 apiece.

Micmic Laborte contributed 10 while Arianna Angustia chipped in eight. Sue Roces and Lou Ann Latigay tried to carry PLDT with 16 and 11 points, respectively, but the rest of the Power Attackers could not match their energy. May Macatuno kept Air Asia’s offense flowing with 27 excellent sets.

Even the seldom-used Wench Tiu joined in the scoring by firing the Flying Spikers’ final two points.

In the other women’s match, Cagayan Valley crushed a listless Cignal, 25-14, 29-27, 25-18, to climb up the standings with a 2-4 card.

Cignal slipped further with four losses in as many games. Veteran hitter Aiza Maizo drilled in 13 kills and had two blocks and one service winner for the resurgent Rising Suns, who boosted their chances of making the next round.