Army survives Ateneo, grabs share of lead in V-League

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Army bucked two match points as it escaped with a 25-22, 25-13, 28-30, 20-25, 16-14 victory over a stubborn Alyssa Valdez and Ateneo de Manila to seize a share of the lead with PLDT in the Shakey's V-League Season-Open Conference at The Arena in San Juan City Tuesday.

Down 14-12, the Lady Troopers took the last four points to turn back the feisty Lady Eagles and preserve their sixth win in seven outings, which tied the former with the Roger Gorayeb-mentored Turbo Boosters on top of the standings near the close of the elimination round.

A service error by Jia Morado, a Rachel Daquis ace, a Nene Bautista spike and a Jovelyn Gonzaga kill quashed Ateneo's bid to upset the highly-favored Army squad, which recently topped another league.

Daquis ended up leading Army with 16 hits while Mary Jane Balse, Gonzaga and Bautista scattered 15, 15 and 11, respectively.

Army coach Rico de Guzman rued the poor reception in the middle sets that almost cost them the match.

"Our service reception just vanished after we took the first two sets. Good thing we recovered in the end," said de Guzman in Filipino.

Led by the power-spiking Alyssa Valdez, who wound up with a game-high 29 hits including 28 on attacks, the reigning UAAP champions clawed their way back from two sets down by seizing the next two sets and came a point away from pulling off the major upset in the fifth and deciding set.

It was to be Ateneo's last hurrah as it couldn't get things done from there and fell to its fourth defeat against two wins.