MANILA — Ilongga Glaudine Troncoso sparked a dramatic comeback as ZUS Coffee Thunderbelles erased a two-set deficit to stun Galeries Tower Highrisers, 17-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-12, and snap a five-game losing streak in the PVL All-Filipino Conference Siklab Series on Tuesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Troncoso delivered 13 points and 21 excellent digs to earn Best Player of the Game honors as the Thunderbelles secured their first tournament victory while dealing a crushing blow to Galeries Tower’s semifinal hopes.
“Pinagtrabahuhan talaga namin ito, nilaban namin. Ayaw lang talaga naming ma-zero ang record namin. Kaya ilalaban pa din namin ng husto ang mga remaining games namin,” Troncoso said.
After dropping the opening two sets, ZUS Coffee mounted a spirited fightback, taking the next two frames by identical 25-20 scores to force a deciding fifth set.
The Thunderbelles then overcame an early 3-6 deficit in the decider behind timely attacks from AC Miner, Chinnie Arroyo and Troncoso.
With the score tied at 7-all, Troncoso delivered a crucial attack that put ZUS Coffee ahead before the Thunderbelles stretched their advantage to three points.
Galeries Tower threatened a late rally, but costly errors allowed ZUS Coffee to reach match point at 14-10.
Lycha Ebon kept the Highrisers alive with consecutive attacks, trimming the deficit to 14-12, before Kate Santiago hammered the match-winning point to complete the stunning reversal.
Miner spearheaded ZUS Coffee’s offense with 17 points, while Jolina Dela Cruz contributed 10. Alyanna Ong added nine markers and Santiago chipped in eight.
Jean Asis erupted for a career-high 27 points for Galeries Tower, while Negrense Erika Deloria finished with 13 and Ebon contributed 12.
Despite the breakthrough victory, ZUS Coffee remained out of semifinal contention. Galeries Tower, meanwhile, slipped to a 1-5 record and was also eliminated from the Final Four race./PN
