Rizal Xentro Mall forces Game 3

It was all hands on deck for Rizal Xentro Mall as it eked out a thrilling 25-21, 19-25, 22-25, 25-17, 15-13, Game 2 victory over Marikina to force a rubber match for the Maharlika Pilipinas Volleyball Association bronze yesterday at the Bacoor Strike Gymnasium.

With their back against the wall in the best-of-three series, the Golden Coolers displayed great resolve to bounce back from a 1-2 match deficit before showing nerves of steel in the nip-and-tuck fifth set.

Joann De Guzman stepped up big time in the deciding frame, hitting timely attacks to keep Rizal a step ahead of the Lady Shoemasters in the mad dash to the finish.

Hiromi Osada did her part to preserve the Golden Coolers breathing room, 11-9, with back-to-back kills. But when Marikina threatened to make a run, Joan Doguna pushed Rizal at matchpoint, 14-12.

The Lady Shoemasters saved a match point only to yield the next point that sent the series into a winner-take-all Game 3.

"We were composed as a team. We didn't let our errors get into our heads as much as possible. We tried to look ahead into the next point," De Guzman, who scored all her 14 points on kills, said.

Marikina took the series opener in straight sets, 25-19,, 25-16, 25-21, last Friday.

"We looked at it as a new game. We moved on from what happened in our last game. We took this opportunity, worked hard for it, stayed composed and gave our all just to get this win," De Guzman added.

Doguna paced the Golden Coolers with 20 points with all but one coming off kills while Janeth Tulang added 13.

Stacey Lopez and Osada fired 12 each to help Rizal's cause.

The Shoemasters shook off a bad start with a good showing in the second and third set but allowed Rizal to gain momentum in the fourth frame when it built a 21-11 lead.

Marikina brought it down to six but its fightback came a little too late.

Shannen Palec finished with 16 points, Justine Rebleza got 15 points while Joy Onofre and Sydney Niegos got 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Marikina.

Game 3 schedule is yet to be announced.