Lady Warriors roll into semis, trip Jet Spikers

Games Saturday 10 a.m. – Air Force vs Mega Builders (men’s) 1 p.m. – Gamboa vs Army (men’s) 4 p.m. – Power Smashers vs UP (women’s) 6:30 p.m. – Adamson vs Air Force

Pocari Sweat repulsed Hair Fairy Air Force in a thrilling third set duel and hacked out a 25-19, 25-20, 29-27 victory to claim the second semifinal berth in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan last night.

The Lady Warriors blew two match points but fought back from two set points to complete the straight-set win and join the unbeaten Creamline Cool Smashers in the Final Four with a 5-1 card.

Air Force dropped to 4-2 for third but must hurdle ousted Adamson on Saturday to claim the third semis seat and avoid falling into a playoff for the last spot.

Pocari squandered three-point leads at the end of the third and missed clinching it at 25-23 on a Maricar Nepomuceno miscue. But Myla Pablo came through with back-to-back power hits to force the next deuce points.

After Judy Caballejo forced the last tie at 27, the Lady Jet Spikers committed a net violation then Pablo hammered in a backrow hit to deliver the hard-earned win for the defending champions.

Earlier, BaliPure snapped a two-game skid with a 25-18, 25-23, 19-25, 25-20 romp over Adamson yesterday as the Water Defenders stayed in the hunt for the last semis berth.

Jerrili Malabanan, who plays college ball for Far Eastern U, fired a team-high 16 hits, including 14 attack points, while former threetime NCAA MVP Grethcel Soltones struggled before finishing with 14 points as the Water Defenders nailed their third win against three losses to tie the idle Perlas-BanKo Spikers at No. 4.