Air Force too strong for Army
By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Games Saturday
(The Arena, San Juan City)
10 a.m. – Army vs PLDT (men’s)
2 p.m. – Tacloban vs Iriga-Navy (women’s)
4 p.m. – Pocari-Air Force vs BanKo-Perlas (women’s)
6:30 p.m. – PetroGazz vs BaliPure-NU (women’s)
Air Force drew an inspired game from Fauzi Ismail and downed Army, 25-23, 25-17, 27-29, 25-20, to boost its semifinal bid in the men’s division of the 2018 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference yesterday at The Arena in San Juan City.
Failing to close out the match early, the Jet Spikers went to Ismail for the kill as they picked up their first win in this round-robin phase for the final two semis berths.
Ismail fired 18 spikes to finish with 21 points, while fellow hard-hitting Howard Mojica chipped in 16 points, including 15 from the attack line, as they recovered from a third set stumble.
Through the efforts of skipper Benjaylo Labide and Patrick John Rojas, Army got a relief when the Troopers dominated the third frame with heavy shots.
But the Jet Spikers regrouped with Ismail and Mojica coming through with thunder-like spikes to finally seal the deal.
Meantime, PetroGazz kept its own semis bid alive with a 25-15, 25-17, 25-21 victory over Tacloban in the distaff side.