Lady Slammers hurdle Raiders, notch 3rd win

MANILA, Philippines - Philips Gold charged back from two sets down and leaned on its solid net defense down the stretch to beat RC Cola-Air Force, 23-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-21, 15-8, last night in the 2015 Philippine Superliga (PSL) Grand Prix women’s volleyball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

American reinforcements Alexis Olgard and Bojana Todorovic took charge in the deciding set to lift the Lady Slammers to the come-from-behind win, their third straight in the inter-club tournament presented by Asics and backed by Milo with Mikasa, Senoh and Mueller as technical partner and TV5 as official broadcaster.

Olgard, the 6-foot-5 middle blocker from University of Southern California, delivered 18 kills and seven blocks to finish with 27 points while Todorovic tallied 22 kills and three aces for a total of 25 points.

Myla Pablo chipped in 17 points while Lutgarda Malaluan came off the bench to join Olgard and Michelle Gumabao in anchoring their frontline defense that sparked their rally in the third set and fourth sets.

Then Olgard and Todorovic shut down two of the league’s best imports in Lynda Morales and Sara McClinton down the stretch.

“We know that RC Cola-Air Force will bounce back, so I told the team that we have to be ready. We cannot be complacent against them,” said Philips Gold coach Francis Vicente, whose wards assumed the solo second spot with a 3-1 win-loss slate.

“RC Cola-Air Force just came from a loss. We know they are hungry to win. So we gave our best and paid special attention to our reception and blocking to shut down their imports. Fortunately, everything went according to plan.”

With Morales and McClinton asserting their power early in the game, RC Cola-Air Force swept the first two sets. But Philips Gold toughened up in defense in the next two frames as Malaluan backed Olgard and Gumabao in foiling the attacks of RC Cola-Air Force’s hitters to extend the game.

Philips Gold, behind the hot smashes of Todorovic, took a slim lead in the decider, 8-7, before Olgard completely anchored the defense, prompting the Raiders to fall to a maze of turnovers while Morales and McClinton sputtered on the attack zone.