PVL: Army rallies past Choco Mucho in epic 5-setter

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Pacifictown-Army came back from a two-set deficit to claim a five-set classic over Choco Mucho, 39-41, 19-25, 25-19, 25-20, 15-12, in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference Wednesday at Filoil Flying V Center.

The Lady Troopers not only fought back from two sets down, they also played catch up in the fourth set, going on a 7-0 run to force the deciding set.

From 11-all, Jovelyn Gonzaga and Nerissa Bautista exchanged kills for Pacifictown-Army’s 13-11 lead.

Bautista then, got another kill off the Flying Titans’ block for the 14-12 match point before Mary Grace Berte’s error gave the Lady Troopers their second win in two matches.

“My worry was we would be too tired if we forced ourselves to play at the tempo of our opponents and you can really see that it was very uncharacteristic of us during the first two sets,” said Lady Troopers head coach Kung Fu Reyes in Filipino.

“We slowed it down and fortunately we were able to recharge during the third and fourth sets.”

Gonzaga finished with 24 points to lead all scorers while Royse Tubino added 21 for the Lady Troopers.

Kat Tolentino led the Flying Titans, who dropped to 1-1, with 23 points with Maddie Madayag pitching in 15.