PSL: Lady Troopers down Raiders; Cignal scores

MANILA, Philippines — Generika-Army, with veteran Nerissa Bautista leading the attack, downed RC Cola-Air Force, 25-21, 27-29, 25-20, 25-21, Wednesday in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference at Cuneta Astrodome.

The veteran open spiker, who was silent in previous games, stepped out of the shadows of her flashy teammates Rachel Daquis and Jovelyn Gonzaga to power the Lady Troopers to their third win in five games.

In the second women’s game, Cignal pulled down PLDT Home Tvolution, 25-20, 25-23, 18-25, 25-17, to finally chalk its first win in the tourney.

Honey Royse Tubino fired away at will to finish with 26 points as the HD Spikers moved up a little from the cellar with 1-4 record, while handing the Power Attackers their third straight defeat for 2-4.

Firing from the left flank, mostly on combination plays set up by veteran setter Tina Salak, Bautista unloaded 16 points, 13 on the attack, two on blocks and one in service.

“I was really waiting for her to step up, this is the first time I saw her become the best player of the game,” said a visibly pleased Generika-Army coach Rico de Guzman, who moved into a tie for third after a 0-2 start.

The victory by the PSL inaugural champs didn’t come easy, though.

The Lady Troopers blew six set-points and needed a feisty attack from Daquis to pull through in the opening frame then lost the second after taking a 19-11 lead.

“We practically have the same plays (with RC Cola-Air Force), but we just blocked better,” said De Guzman.

Generika-Army had 12 blocks against eight by RC Cola-Air Force (4-2), which had a 48-46 edge in attacks and made better reception at 37-24.

But Generika-Army dished out 34 excellent sets against 26 by its rival.