Generika-Ayala entered the quarterfinals of the 2018 Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga Invitational after escaping Petron in a thriller, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 31-33, 15-11, Monday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
The Lifesavers improved to a 3-1 slate while the Blaze Spikers fell to a 2-1 record.
Generika-Ayala had a slim one-point lead in the fifth set, 11-10, before staging a 4-1 blitz, capped by team captain Angeli Araneta’s off-the-block kill to seal the win.
“I told my players to think of it just like one of our trainings because we have nothing to lose because Petron is really a strong team but since our team is balanced, the points were distributed equally,” said Lifesavers head coach Sherwin Meneses in Filipino.
An Aiza Maizo-Pontillas drop ball and an attack error from Patty Orendain broke a 31-all deadlock in the fourth frame to force a decider.
Orendain had a game-high 23 points to lead the Lifesavers while Araneta added 20 markers.
Maizo-Pontillas spearheaded the Blaze Spikers with 14 points. Ma. Angelica D. Garcia