BY ABBY TORALBA
ARMY Black Mamba downed Chery Tiggo 25-20, 25-23, 25-22 yesterday to boost its semifinals bid in the PVL Invitational Conference at The Arena in San Juan.
Skipper Jovelyn Gonzaga led the Lady Troopers with 15 points, 18 digs and seven excellent receptions, while open hitter Audrey Paran chipped in eight markers.
Middle blocker Anne Esguerra added six points, while setter Ivy Perez tossed 18 excellent sets and had six markers as Army bounced back from a 25-17, 11-25, 20-25, 18-25 defeat to PLDT last Saturday and improved to 3-2.
The Crossovers, coming off a 25-22, 25-14, 25-21 victory over Petro Gazz six days ago, fell to 1-4 and bowed out of the tourney.
“Sa part ng Army kasi pumunta kami dito with a mission. Parehas kami, kailangan namin ng panalo so talagang paglalabanan namin ng todo. So luckily, nai-perform namin, hinawakan namin iyong mga downside namin noong second set,” Lady Troopers coach Kungfu Reyes said.
“Overall, first set, second set, third set, nandoon kami, hindi kami bumibitaw basta-basta.
So iyon nga, medyo unfortunate sa Chery Tiggo kasi ang dami nilang giveaway points samin,” he added.
Knotted at 8-all in the first set, Paran took charge for Army which took a 22-18 before veteran Mary Jean Balse-Pabayo ended the set with a service ace.
Despite Chery Tiggo gaining an early 5-1 edge in the second frame, Army charged back and tied it 23-all.
A costly error by the Crossovers and a service ace from Perez finished the set, giving the Lady Troopers a 2-0 set advantage.
Army never looked back from there.
Opposite spiker Mylene Paat and open hitter Shaya Adorador scored 11 points apiece for Chery Tiggo.
