Capital1 bucked a slow start before turning back Galeries Tower, 12-25, 29-27, 25-19, 25-18, to boost its quarterfinal seeding in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference at the Mall of Asia Arena on Thursday, Nov. 20.

Setter Nika Yandoc came off the bench and orchestrated a fiery offense as the Solar Spikers finished the preliminaries with a 4-4 win-loss record.

The victory not only boosted the morale of Capital1 heading into quarters but also assured itself of at least a Top 7 seeding pending the outcome of the two matches being held as of this writing.

Yandoc delivered 19 of the team’s 30 excellent sets to set the rhythm for the Solar Spikers particularly in the last three sets, allowing import Oleksandra Bytsenko and Bella Belen to deliver timely hits that weakened the Highrisers’ defense.

Bytsenko remained explosive at the attack line, powering Capital1 with 32 kills to finish with 35 points, while Belen was equally unstoppable by firing 12 of her 14 points on attacks.

Galeries Tower leaned on its solid defense to dominate the opening set, but failed to sustain that momentum in the tight second frame before eventually fading in the third and fourth.

Four players actually scored in double figures for the Highrisers, with import Jelena Cvijovic and France Ronquillo pacing the crew with 18 and 17 points, respectively, but the squad just couldn’t find enough power to close out the game in their favor.

Julia Coronel and Ysa Jimenez also scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, but their efforts went down the drain as Galeries Tower finished the conference without a win in all its eight matches.