Sweep of Pocari a confidence-booster for Bali Pure, says Malabanan

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Bali Pure utility Jerrili Malabanan knows her team has suffered a bit of a funk but after a convincing win over Pocari Sweat in their final game in elimination round, she’s confident they’ll make a splash come the semifinals.

The Water Defenders trounced the Lady Warriors in straight sets 25-21, 25-16, 25-23, to take the fourth seed in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference Sunday.

“Our performance this conference has been inconsistent going up and down so this will give us confidence going into the semifinals,” said Malabanan after their game at Filoil Flying V Centre.

Bali Pure finished the preliminaries with a 4-3 record and closed the seven-game span with back-to-back wins with Malabanan taking center stage in the two victories.

Malabanan led the team in scoring in both wins and averaged 15 a game in the two closeout matches.

“We’re confident but I don’t want to say we’re overconfident,” said Malabanan who had 16 points against the Lady Warriors. “Sometimes we over-enjoy and we relax a bit and when we do that we’re not that focused.”

“Coach (Roger Gorayeb) always tells us that it’s good we’re enjoying but we have to stay calm and focused.”