BaliPure turned to Grazielle Bombita as it outplayed Chery Tiggo, 19-25, 25-19, 13-25, 27-25, 15-12, Thursday night in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference at the PVC Socio-Civic & Cultural Center in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte.
Bombita unloaded 21 kills to finish with 24 points as the Water Defenders clinched their first victory in two starts.
The win also sent Chery Tiggo crashing back to earth after back-to-back triumphs over PLDT and Cignal despite the sister act of Jaja Santiago and Dindin Manabat, who combined for 40 points.
“Nakaka-high ng moral yung panalo na to especially Chery Tiggo na natalo namin kasi one of the contenders talaga sila going into the tournament,” said BaliPure coach John Abella.
After surviving a close fourth set, BaliPure had to dig deep in crawling from a 7-5 deficit in the deciding fifth frame by covering all bases with Bombita leading the offensive assault.
Santiago briefly breathed life for the Crossovers to trim their deficit to 14-12, but a reception error sealed the win for the Water Defenders.
Bernadette Flora also shone for BaliPure with 16 points built on 14 kills and two aces, while Shirley Salagamos added 10 points.
Alina Bicar also distributed the ball well and finished with 24 excellent sets.