Myla Pablo of Pocari Sweat in pain after an awkward landing, at the Filoil arena. INQUIRER PHOTO/AUGUST DELA CRUZ
Pocari Sweat found a rallying point in injured leader Myla Pablo to turn back BaliPure, 18-25, 21-25, 26-24, 27-25, 15-13, and inched closer to a semifinal slot in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference Thursday night at Filoil Flying V Centre.
The multimillion-peso franchise player Myla Pablo hurt her back in the second frame with the scored tied at 11 and had to be rushed to the hospital.
The Lady Warriors went on to lose the frame but came back stronger to extend their winning spree to five games and improve their league-leading record to 6-2.
The Water Defenders dropped to 4-2 but are still in second place with a strong chance of making the next round.
“I’m very pleased with the efforts our players showed tonight, they didn’t let up,” said Pocari coach Rommel Abella. “We know from the start that BaliPure has the edge in manpower.”
Both teams finally unveiled their imports after they were given the green light to play following the approval of their International Transfer Certificates Wednesday.
Edina Selimovic thundered with 24 points, while Michelle Strizak had 16 for Pocari to make an explosive maiden performance on local shores.
Elaine Kasilag had 13, while Jeannette Panaga contributed 12 for the Lady Warriors. But it was Selimovic who proved to be the complete package as she made 17 attacks and seven blocks.