Philippine Army battled back from 1-2 set down with a dominant showing in the last two as it pulled off a 25-21, 26-28, 19-25, 25-14, 15-11 victory over Don Pacundo-DLSU Dasmariñas to close in on a quarterfinal slot in the Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference yesterday at the Paco Arena.
Adjusting from communication lapses in the second and third sets, the Troopers regrouped in the fourth and dominated from start to finish to force a decider then outlasted the Patriots in the stretch to secure their third win in four matches and snatch second spot behind unbeaten Sta. Elena-National University (4-0) in Pool A play.
After its fourth set romp, Army, whose last playoffs appearance was way back in 2017, figured in a tight encounter with the Patriots early in the decider but Benjayo Labide and Kevin Liberato scored on consecutive plays to put the Troopers at match point, 14-9.
Christian Battung and Valeriano Sasis tried to rally DLSU Dasmariñas with back-to-back hits to save two match points but the veteran Labide outwitted them with an off-the-block hit in the ensuing play that ended the two-hour, nine-minute encounter.
Labide topscored with 21 points while Wewe Medina sustained his all-around brilliance, finishing with 18 points on 14 attacks, two aces and two blocks and producing 15 excellent receptions and nine excellent digs.
