MANILA – Bella Belen scored 35 points in leading Capital1 to a 28-26, 22-25, 25-15, 23-25, 21-19 victory over Akari in the PVL All-Filipino Conference Siklab Series at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Thursday.
The former three-time UAAP Most Valuable Player also had 20 excellent digs and 19 receptions.
“Napag-usapan kasi naming during the fifth set na nandun na kami, so may chance na kaming ipanalo at hindi naman nagkakalayo ang score kahit lamang ang kalaban (We talked about it during the fifth set – we were already there, so we had a chance to win, and the score wasn’t that far apart, even though the opponents were in the lead),” Belen said after the two-hour and 33-minute match.
Capital1 bounced back from their first game loss to Choco Mucho in Cebu over the weekend.
“Masayang maglaro sa mga ganung situations, yung kumbaga yung challenge talagang nandun. Ang iniisip ko lang kung ano pa yung pwede kong maitulong at kung ano yung kaya kong gawin para sa team (It’s fun to play in situations like that – where the challenge is truly present. My only focus is on how else I can contribute and what I can do for the team),” Belen said.
Vanie Gandler, Erika Santos, and middle blocker Cherry Nunag each contributed 10 points.
“First of all, I’m happy because they’re showing the fight and the fire that we had been building since we started in Capital1. But since we have more members, really good ones that we added, I’m really happy coming off our last match,” Capital1 coach Jorge Souza de Brito said.
Fifi Sharma topscored with 20 points, followed by Ivy Lacsina with 18 points and 26 excellent receptions for Akari, which took its second straight loss.
Eli Soyud added 17, including two aces, while Mars Alba dished out 32 excellent sets – three more than counterpart Jules Coronel. (PNA)
