MANILA, Philippines - 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 three-time 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.