Pocari squeaks past Bali Pure to force semis rubber match

Myla Pablo. INQUIRER.net PHOTO/TRISTAN TAMAYO

Pocari Sweat pulled out all the stops and trumped Bali Pure in a five-set thriller, 25-23, 13-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-8, in the Shakey’s V-League Open Conference Saturday at San Juan Arena to force a third and deciding game in the semifinals.

Myla Pablo’s service ace made sure the Lady Warriors would once again face the Water Defenders in a do-or-die match on Monday.

But before Pablo’s ace, it was the duo of Melissa Gohing and Michele Gumabao who made beautiful magic.

Gohing made a gorgeous receive off a magnificent Alyssa Valdez spike then, just as fate would have it, Gumabao got the bounce and softly tapped it to the Bali Pure defense for the 14-8 Pocari lead.

Following their loss in Game 1 of their best-of-three series, Lady Warriors assistant coach Rommel Abella and his staff challenged their team to show that they are capable of beating their fellow powerhouse team.

“Chinallenge namin sila last night na we have to prove to everybody we’re a capable team kahit tinalo kami last game,” said Abella whose team suffered a sweep against Bali Pure. “Challenge na patunayan na kaya namin sila.”
“Naturo namin tendencies ng spikers ng kabila, and I’m proud of the girls na na implement nila sa game.”

Pablo, who only scored eight measly points in their Game 1 loss, redeemed herself with a game-high 25 points while Elaine Kasilag added 17 points.

Gumabao also finished in double figures for Pocari with 12.

Alyssa Valdez had 24 hard-fought points for Bali Pure as she converted only 20 of her 48 attempts off spikes.

Grethcel Soltones and Dzi Gervacio added 16 and 10 points, respectively, for the Water Defenders.