Perlas Spikers subdue Motolite foes, near bronze

MANILA,Philippines — BanKo Perlas bucked a spate of injuries to key players as it foiled Motolite with its poise and class, fashioning out a 25-23, 25-23, 25-18 victory yesterday to zero in on a podium finish in the PVL Open Conference at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Sue Roces flashed vintage form, putting up an impressive 55-percent attack performance (11 of 20) behind her vaunted runners while Dzi Gervacio and Jem Ferrer played through pain to help anchor the Perlas Spikers’ straight-set victory in the opener of their best-of-three series for third.

Motolite actually controlled the tempo in the opening frame and kept it close in the second but just couldn’t sustain its charge while failing to neutralize BanKo’s assault at the finish of each set.

Down 0-2, Motolite forced an 11-all count in the third but BanKo, behind Roces, Gervacio, Nicole Tiamzon, Kathy Bersola, Roma Doromal, took six of the next nine points to build a 17-14 cushion then held sway to the finish capped by another Gervacio hit at the middle that the Motolite defenders failed to keep in play.

“It’s all about teamwork,” said Roces, who finished with 11 points in bagging the game’s top honors.

The crisp-hitting Tiamzon topscored with 13 hits, including 11 attack points, and added eight excellent receptions while Gervacio matched Roces’ output.