Air Force downs off-form coast guard

Air Force Jet Spikers. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Philippine Air Force regained its form to down Coast Guard, 25-11, 25-19, 25-8, and keep its semifinal hopes alive in the Shakeys’ V-League Reinforced Conference yesterday at Philsports Arena.

Grounded by two successive loses, the Jet Spikers vented their ire on the out-of-sync Lady Dolphins, who have yet to win a single game in five starts.

PAF spiker Dell Palomata expressed relief that they were able to recover from the twin setbacks.

“Unlike in our losses, we played as a team today,” said Palomata after making seven spikes to finish with eight points.
“We just have to play with more confidence and improve on our communication in our last two games,” added Palomata.

Mary Ann Pantino led the Jet Spikers with 10 hits, while Jennifer Manzano and Judy Ann Caballejo added six points each.
Joy Cases, Iari Yongco and Mae Antipuesto also chipped in five hits each.

All in all, PAF dropped 44 kills against Coast Guard’s measly 14 attacks.
The Jet Spikers also had seven aces and four blocks in total.

Grenlen Malapit scored five points while Sam Dawson and Hazel Mea made four and three markers, respectively. But their efforts failed to help Coast Guard.

PAF, runner-up to Pocari Sweat in the Open Conference last June, needs to sweep its last two games against UP and Customs and hope the rest of the teams suffer losses.

Earlier, Air Force scored its third straight victory, beating Army, 25-22, 27-25, 25-17, to move closer to the first semifinal berth in the Spikers’ Turf Season 2 Third Conference. Marc Reyes