BaliPure, Pocari whip rivals, near finals

BaliPure found a way to slow down Alyssa Valdez as it re-asserted its mastery over Customs, 25- 19, 25-18, 25-21, yesterday to inch closer to a first-ever finals in the Shakey’s V- League Season 13- Reinforced Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.

Power-spiking American Katherine Morrell unleashed a gamehigh 20 points, including 17 on kills, while Amy Ahomiro chipped in 13 markers to give the Purest Water Defenders a 1-0 edge in their best-ofthree showdown in the season-ending conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s.

Later in the night, Pocari Sweat also fashioned out a straight-set 2516, 25-18, 25-22 victory over UST to likewise go 1-up in their side of the best-of-three semis playoff.

While Morrell took care of scoring, Kaylee Manns dished out a matchbest 47 excellent sets while teaming up with Ahomiro upfront to foil the Transformers’ attackers, led by Valdez, who was held to just 15 hits after averaging 20 in the elims of the tournament backed by Accel as official outfitter and Mikasa as official ball.

“We knew she’s going to get her points so we just did our best to minimize it and I think we succeeded on that regard in this game,” said Morrell.

The Purest Water Defenders outlasted the Transformers in a thrilling first-set duel that featured long rallies, awesome spikes and terrific blocking and floor coverage to the delight of the big weekend crowd, then turned back their rivals with a gritty stand in the next two sets to complete the sweep in 79 minutes.

That moved BaliPure closer to the finals with the Water Defenders, who also swept the Alyssa Valdez-led Transformers, 26-24, 25-21, 25-21, in the elims last Oct. 12, gunning for the clincher in Game 2 tomorrow.

Dzi Gervacio, Sue Roces, Kaylee Manns, Charo Soriano and Ella De Jesus combined for 26 points for BaliPure.

The Water Defenders lived up to their name in the early going, foiling the dreaded Valdez attacks – on the net and on the floor – while Morrell took care of the offensive chores, pumping in the kills on the wing to anchor the victory. Customs’ Pau Soriano ( 10) and Alyssa Valdez thwart BaliPure’s Amy Ahomiro’s attack as Water Defender Kaylee Manns look on during their Shakey’s V-League semis duel.