RC Cola-Army, Petron win big in Superliga

Three-time champion RC Cola-Army and Petron displayed their might as they clobbered their respective foes to remain on top of the 2016 PLDT Home Ultera Philippine Superliga (PSL) Invitational Conference women’s volleyball tournament yesterday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Lady Troopers made short work of Cignal, 25-16, 25-14, 25-19, while the Tri-Activ Spikers survived another slow start before pouncing on Foton, 14-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-7, to close the elimination round of this prestigious inter-club tourney on a sizzling note.

Rachel Anne Daquis and Jovelyn Gonzaga conspired in the firing end, finishing with 15 and 14 points, respectively, for RC Cola-Army, which shut the door on Cignal and its bid to advance to the final round where a Thai team in Est Cola will also be competing.

Idle F2 Logistics will take the last seat in the semifinals together with RC Cola-Army and Petron.

It was such a sweet win for the Lady Troopers, who made a resounding bounce back after falling with a sorry five-set defeat to Petron last Thursday.

“We still couldn’t figure out what happened to us in that game,” said RC Cola-Army assistant coach Rico de Guzman. “That’s why it feels good to have this win. At least we will be going to the final round with very high morale.”

Earlier, the Tri-Activ Spikers bucked a slow start before asserting their might in the second and third sets to pull off their fifth conquest in six games.

Veteran Aiza Piontillas tallied 19 kills en route to a 20-point effort while Bang Pineda and Maica Morada chipped in 13 and 11 points, respectively, for the Tri-Activ Spikers, who struggled early on before getting their rhythm in the second and third sets.

“Parang diesel na naman,” said Petron coach George Pascua, referring to their rusty start. “I think the team was making some adjustments in the first set before heating up in the second and third sets. It was understandable because it was our first time to play them.”