Game today (The Arena, San Juan)
5 p.m. – IEM vs Navy
MANILA, Philippines - Sta. Elena pounced on an error-prone PLDT Home Ultera to eke out a shock 25-22, 25-21, 14-25, 29-27 victory yesterday to book in the Spikers’ Turf Season 1-Reinforced Conference at The San Juan Arena.
Arjay Ona and Myco Antonio unloaded 17 and 12 hits including 15 and nine on kills, respectively, while team captain Rocky Honrade presided over his team’s defense with four blocks to help seal the Wrecking Balls’ first victory after falling to Navy, 21-25, 25-21, 19-25, 18-25, last week.
“They committed a lot of errors and we benefited from them,” said Sta. Elena coach Arnold Laniog.
The Ultrafast Spikers actually outhit the Wrecking Balls, 58-48, but committed too many errors, most of them on attacks.
PLDT thus slid to the bottom of the standings with two defeats including a humiliating 21-25, 21-25, 19-25 loss to Cignal a week back.
It was an unexpected start for the Ultrafast Spikers, who came into the conference as one of the heavy favorites after lording it over the Open Conference last May by beating the Cagayan Valley Rising Suns.