Pocari, BanKo prevail

Games Wednesday (The Arena, San Juan City) 10 a.m. – Air Force vs Vice Co. (m) 1:45 p.m. – BanKo-Perlas vs PayMaya (w) 3:45 p.m. – Pocari-PAF vs Creamline (w) 6 p.m. – PLDT vs Cignal (m)

Pocari Sweat-Air Force banked on its rock-solid defense to shock fancied Creamline, 25-23, 25-12, 25-23, yesterday and inch closer to a championship berth in the 2018 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference at The Arena in San Juan City.

Also getting closer into the final round was BanKo-Perlas, which continued its winning streak with a 25-19, 26-28, 25-23, 25-23 victory over PayMaya in the other best-of-three semifinal pairing.

Lakia Bright and Jutarat Montripila sizzled anew after conspiring for 51 of the team’s 62 kills while also taking charge of the floor defense with combined 21 digs as the Perlas Spikers rolled into their eighth straight victory since the eliminations.

Against Creamline, the Lady Jet Spikers made 10 blocks – four each from Arielle Love and Jeanette Panaga – to draw first blood in their best-ofthree semifinal series.

Love paced with 20 points highlighted by 15 spikes even as Madeline Palmer added 12 points including three aces as Pocari turned its 21-18 first-set deficit into a set win before dictating the tempo in the next three frames.

In men’s play, defending champion Cignal shrugged off a three-week rust and outplayed PLDT, 25-22, 25-20, 2624, to move a win away from clinching a championship berth.

—