COCOLIFE weathered a furious late rally by an undermanned Cignal squad to eke out a 25-22, 25-21, 28-26 victory in the quarterfinals of the Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga Grand Prix yesterday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
Serbian imports Marta Drpa and Sara Klisura were impressive, while Erika Alkuino delivered the match-clinching block that sent the Asset Managers to the semifinals of this prestigious women’s club tourney bankrolled by Isuzu and UCPB Gen with ESPN5 as official broadcast partner.
Cocolife will face Petron in the best-of-three semifinal battle while the winner between Foton and Sta. Lucia Realty will punch a ticket to the next round against reigning champion F2 Logistics of this battle that also has Senoh, Mikasa, Asics, LGR and Grand Sport as technical sponsors.
Coming in as a replacement for American Taylor Milton, Drpa delivered 11 digs and four of the Asset Managers’ eight total blocks on top of 15 kills to finish with game-high 19 points.
Klisura, on the other hand, chipped in 14 kills and two aces for 16 points while providing the defensive muscle down the stretch together with Alkuino, who came up with a booming block off Rachel Anne Daquis that sealed the victory for the Asset Managers.
It was such a sorry loss for the HD Spikers, who marched into the battle without injured import Sonja Milanovic and head coach Edgar Barroga, who is calling the shots for the National University boys’ volleyball squad in the ongoing Palarong Pambansa in Vigan City.
They also lost spiker Janine Navarro midway through the third set due to injury.
