ARMY battled back from 1-2 set down with a dominant showing in the last two and pulled off a 25-21, 26-28, 19-25, 25-14, 15-11 victory over Don Pacundo-DLSU Dasmarinas to close in on a quarterfinal slot in the Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference at the Paco Arena yesterday.
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 U (4-0) in Pool A play.
“Nagkaroon lang kami ng miscommunication nung second and third sets kasi nawalan kami ng receive. So ano, nawalan din kami ng block. Block at receive,” said Army head coach Melvin Carolino, whose wards are coming off a successful title run in the AFP Olympics.
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.
