MANILA – BanKo Perlas Lady Spikers-Philippines salvaged a bronze medal after a 28-26, 25-16, 25-22 win over Malaysia in the battle-for-third place of the Vinh Long Television Cup at the Long Province Gymnasium in Vietnam.
Angelique Gervacio, Joy Dacoron, Amanda Villanueva, Nicole Tiamzon, and Amy Ahomiro anchored the offense of the Lady Spikers to clinch their first trophy on the international stage.
It was a seesaw battle for both teams almost the entire opening set Wednesday. Later the Lady Spikers trailed by 1 point before back-to-back conversions from Dacoron let them snatch the set.
In the second set the Lady Spikers surged to a 15-10 lead with conversions from Villanueva, Ahomiro and Gervacio. The lead grew further with the Malaysians committing errors.
Malaysia tried to keep the match close in the third set but the Philippines surged to a 1-point edge on back-to-back hits by Tiamzon. The Malaysians trailed 22-24 when the Lady Spikers surged with a booming Gervacio hit.
Also part of the Lady Spikers were Roma Doromal, Gizelle Tan, Suzanne Roces, Jamenea Ferrer, Jorella de Jesus, Mary Tajima, Fenela Emnas, and Kathy Bersola.
Prior to the bronze medal match, the Lady Spikers racked up two victories in the eliminations – against Malaysia (25-20, 25-20, 21-25, 25-18) and Thong Tin Lien Vietnam Postbank (25-19, 21-25, 25-20, 25-18).
The Philippines’ two losses were against finalists VTV Binh Dien La-Vietnam (25-20, 12-25, 13-25, 20-25) and Truyan Hinh Vinh Long (23-25, 14-25, 22-25)./PN
