Air Force survives Generika in Superliga

Games Wednesday

(Cuneta Astrodome)

 2 p.m. – Mane 'N Tail vs Foton (W)

4 p.m. – Cignal HD vs Petron (W)

6 p.m. – PLDT vs Cavite (M)

Team Standings

Cignal              2 0

Petron             2 0

RC Cola           2 1

Foton               0 1

Generika         0 2

Mane N Tail    0-2

STO. DOMINGO, Ilocos Sur – RC Cola-Air Force survived a late meltdown and carved out a 25-20, 25-23, 18-25, 27-25 victory over a feisty Generika Saturday night to nail its second win in the women's division of the 2014 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix presented by Asics at the Sto. Domingo Coliseum here.

Emily Brown and Joy Cases took turns and led their team with 22 and 21 hits, respectively, as the Raiders improved to a 2-1 (win-loss) record, or half a game behind the league-leading Cignal HD Spikers and Petron Blaze Spikers with pristine 2-0 marks.

The solid-spiking tandem of Brown and Cases wrecked most of the havoc in the first two sets by unloading kills almost at will and helped in Generika's defense up front.

The pair slowed down in third set and early in the fourth when the Lady Stallions made their move to close the gap and nearly forced a fifth and deciding set if Brown and Cases hadn't intervened.

The tournament is being organized by Sports Core with Air 21, My Phone, Via Mare, Mikasa, Mueller Sports Medicine, Healthway Medical, Generika Drugstore, LGR and Jinling Sports as technical partners.

RC Cola coach Rhovyl Verayo said he's happy his team is starting to find cohesion after a forgettable start.

"We were all shocked when we lost our first game," said Verayo, the former beach volley star who took over from Clarence Esteban only early this month, in Filipino.

"That's why we regrouped and studied the plays and tendencies of other teams so we can somehow bounce back from that defeat. Fortunately, it worked. We're now taking this tournament one game at a time."

After dominating the first two sets, the Raiders were tipped to coast for an easy victory.

But the Life Savers, behind Russian import Natalia Korobkova, regained their composure to pull off a stunning win in the third set before threatening to extend the game to a deciding fifth set with a strong performance in the crucial stretch of the fourth set.

"We simply refused to give up," Verayo said. "We couldn't receive in the third and fourth sets and Generika was making a run so we decided to tighten up our frontline defense to avoid their Russian import from taking over."

Korobkova had 31 points for Generika, who remains in the cellar together with Mane 'N Tail with a 0-2 win-loss card.