STA. Lucia came from a set down to frustrate Generika-Ayala, 25-27, 25-17, 25-17, 26-24, in the Philippine Super Liga Grand Prix on Thursday at The Arena in San Juan.
Ukranian import Bohdana Anisova delivered 25 points for the Lady Realtors, while Australian reinforcement Marisa Field and MJ Philips added 16 and 13 markers, respectively.
By putting together their first back-to-back wins of the conference, the Lady Realtors improved to 3-5 (win-loss) to catch their victims as well as Cocolife for fifth spot.
"Hopefully, we are peaking at the right time. Siguro talagang naging healthy lang kami and the players are really motivated to make the most of their up-and-down season," said Sta. Lucia coach Jerry Yee.
Down by three, 19-22, in the fourth set, Sta. Lucia clawed back to tie the contest, 22-22, but went on to see Generika-Ayala reach set point first, 24-23.
But Anisova scored on a kill, followed by Field's block on Croatian spiker Katarina Pilepic before Rebecca Rivera's service ace finished the match.
Sta. Lucia’s foe in the knockout quarterfinals is yet to be determined, depending on the outcome of the match between Cignal (3-5) and also ran Victoria Sports-University of Santo Tomas (0-7) and Iriga City (2-5) and F2 Logistics (6-1).
A win by the HD Spikers will force a four-way tie at the fourth spot and the ranking will be determined by point system.
Darlene Ramdin made 20 points for Generika-Ayala while, Pilepic tallied 19 markers for the Lifesavers.