BanKo scored an early upset to kickstart its campaign dealing vaunted Creamline with a five-set defeat, 22-25, 25-16, 25-23, 17-25, 15-11, in the Premier Volleyball League Conference Saturday at People’s Gym in Tuguegarao.
Jutarat Montripila lit up for the Perlas Spikers with 29 points while Lakia Bright provided ample support with 19 points to eclipse the star power of the Cool Smashers that include Alyssa Valdez, Jia Morado, Michele Gumabao, and Melissa Gohing.
Creamline’s Thai reinforcement Kuttika Kaewpin led the Cool Smashers with 22 points while Valdez and Gumabao added 20 and 10 points, respectively.
Although the scores didn’t fluctuate much in the spikes, blocks, and aces categories, the Perlas Spikers got a boost from the Cool Smashers’ inconsistent play.
Creamline led in the spikes department, 59-53, and aces, 7-5, but gave away 37 free points due to errors while BanKo limited its miscues to 26.