NOT even a record-setting feat could put a smile on the face of Pocari Sweat import Michelle Strizak after her league-best 40 points went for naught in a stunning loss to Air Force in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference.
The American outside hitter carried the offensive load for a Lady Warriors side without star Myla Pablo and Bosnian import Edina Selimovic due to injuries, setting a new scoring mark in the Lady Jet Spikers' 25-19, 24-26, 25-27, 25-21, 15-6 loss on Thursday at The Arena in San Juan.
Pablo remained sidelined due to aggravated back spasms while Selimovic will miss the remainder of the tournament due to a torn hamstring on her right leg.
“It doesn’t matter how I do, I just want us to win so I’m like disappointed that we lost,” said Strizak, who surpassed Alyssa Valdez’s 39-point production when the former Ateneo star suited up for Bureau of Customs in last year’s edition.
“I think we have other (scoring) options (but) it’s just been hard that we’ve literally have different lineups every match,” she added.
With the loss to lowly Air Force, Pocari dropped to 6-4 and failed to boost their bid for an outright semis berth. The Lady Warriors now hope for a loss for both the Power Smashers (5-4)and Perlas (5-4) to automatically advance to the semifinals, as they look to avoid falling into a dangerous round robin quarterfinals where the last two semifinals berth will be at stake.
“That’s gonna be a tougher road but we put that on ourselves and we didn’t take care of business when we needed to. So we’ll see what happens and then face it,” said Strizak.
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