PLDT breaks Army, forces rubber match

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

PLDT Home Ultera made sure the Finals of Shakey’s V-League Open Conference will have a third match as they broke even with Army, 1-1, in the best-of-three series taking the match 25-16, 25-22, 19-25, 25-16, Sunday at the Arena in San Juan.

Jaja Santiago stood tall, jumped high, and hit hard to seal the match, and force a decider on Sunday, as he hit the ball that tore through the defense the Lady Troopers.

PLDT head coach Roger Gorayeb said everything is back to square one once the third match starts.

“Game 3 will be on equal footing, we will leave everything on the floor,” Gorayeb said whose team’s first loss of the tournament was on Game 1 of the Finals. “This win just made the tournament even sweeter.”

He added their 10-game romp of the eliminations just got hyped and he never put any pressure for his team to win.

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Tournament MVP Alyssa Valdez gave PLDT the 24-15 match point but Jovelyn Gonzaga answered immediately for the Philippine Army with a quick attack to extend the match a little more.

PLDT missed the presence of veteran Charo Soriano in their Game 1 loss due to injury but Game 2 became her comeback in front of 5,398 spectators.

Gorayeb said he had to rest Soriano on Thursday to make sure her sprain would not hinder her play on Game 2.

“Health comes first,” Gorayeb said. “I asked her and the therapist if she can play.”

“Her contribution is not on the stat sheets but here mere presence, her aura, it just lifts the pressure off of you.”

Valdez was again terrific for PLDT as she finished with 26 points while Santiago added 20.

Mary Jean Balse led the Lady Troopers with 17 points while Gonzaga had 12. AC