Shakey’s V-League Finals: Cagayan Valley draws first blood, subdues Smart-Maynilad in five sets

FINALS SERIES GAMES ON SUNDAY (October 20 at The Arena, San Juan City)*

2:00PM Philippine Air Force vs. Philippine Army (Bronze Medal Series Game #2, Army leads series 1-0)

4:00PM Smart-Maynilad vs. Cagayan Valley (Gold Medal Series Game #2, Cagayan Valley leads series 1-0)

*Aired LIVE on GMA News TV

THE ARENA, San Juan City—The Cagayan Valley Risings Suns moved to within a victory to have a date with destiny as it outlasted the clawing Smart-Maynilad Net Spikers 26-24, 25-11, 23-25, 11-25, 15-12 in the titular series as the Philippine Army Lady Troopers trounced the Philippine Air Force in its similar Best-Of-Three showdown for third place in the ongoing Shakey’s V-League Open Conference championship here.

Taking full advantage of the Tuesday holiday, a crowd of close to five thousand rabid fans packed this venue to the rafters as the four remaining teams in the tournament commenced hostilities. The support from schools that some of the protagonists play for was also evident as the women’s volleyball varsity squads of Ateneo, Adamson University and the National University (NU) came in full force to cheer for their respective star volleybelles seeing action, braving a brief power outage and a subsequent wrath-of-god downpour just to witness the beginning of both series.

In the first match in the battle for the bronze medal, The Philippine Army Lady Troopers bucked a rocky start to finish strong and claim Game 1 via a 26-24, 29-27, 25-21 straight sets triumph over the heady Philippine Air Force team.

With an upset on their minds, the Airwomen went to work early in the first two sets and erected sizeable advantages over Army behind the power strikes of ace spiker Joy Gazelle Cases and a resurgent Iari Yongco. The first set saw Air Force completely controlling the match before the Lady Troopers turned to then MVP frontrunner Jovelyn Gonzaga and former league MVP Mary Jean Balse for the much needed offense that allowed them to edge ahead in the twilight. However, the Airwomen kept within striking distance and the opener went thru an extension before Army finally prevailed 26-24 on a vicious connection from setter Tina Salak to Gonzaga and a service ace by Balse.

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Air Force looked poised to knot the tally at a set apiece in the second canto when they erected a seemingly insurmountable 23-17 edge prompting a call for a ceasefire from Lady Troopers Head Coach Rico de Guzman. After the timeout, the Airwomen just could not find a way to get to set-point as Army used a combination of solid net defense and wicked serves to bamboozle the Air Force floor patrollers. In fact, the Lady Troopers managed to attain set-point first at 24-23 on a Salak dump-ball that capped a 7-0 run. Yongco promptly tied the score and the two squads exchanged points until former Finals MVP Rachel Anne Daquis bombed away for the final two points of the set, giving Army the victory 29-27.

The Lady Troopers never looked back after that and went on to snare the fourth set 25-21 to complete its first straight sets win in nearly a month. They go for the jugular on Sunday (October 20th).

Following the victory by Army, the league feted its individual accolades on the conference’s top performers (see separate article) and when the dust cleared, it was time for the much anticipated clash for the title between upstart Smart-Maynilad and undefeated Cagayan Valley—winners of fourteen straight matches heading into Game 1.

There has never been a “perfect” campaign in league history.

The Rising Suns were feeling the pressure of this aim since the quarterfinals when they had to go through three five-setters to keep their slate immaculate. This time around, they were facing an almost completely new Net Spikers roster as names like Wanida Koturang, Lizlee Ann Gata-Pantone and Din-Din Santiago were facing them for the first time all season. It was to be their toughest trial yet in their quest for perfection.

However, uncertainty clouded Santiago’s participation for Smart-Maynilad prior to gametime.

The 6’2” first conference league MVP and scoring titlist suited up for the Net Spikers in their sudden-death tiff against Army last Sunday (October 13th) and was a big factor in the victory. Allegedly, it was supposed to be her first and last game this conference as it was reported that NU officials only allowed her to play for Smart-Maynilad in that one match—and no more.

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The allegation spread like wildfire in social media sites prompting many fans to ask me to confirm the news. I had no answers either. So by the time I got to SJA, I immediately sought out Smart-Maynilad Head Coach Roger Gorayeb for answers.

With a look akin to being granted a stay of execution, Gorayeb announced: “Maglalaro siya. Last minute, pero pinayagan.”

Apparently there were talks between officials of the team and NU and the negotiation netted a positive result for the Net Spikers. But one Smart-Maynilad official confided to me that the saga in definitively acquiring the permanent services of perhaps the best center-spiker in the archipelago isn’t over yet.

“One game at a time,” the official said.

Despite Santiago’s presence in the frontline for Smart-Maynilad, it was Cagayan valley that fired the opening salvos as newly-crowned league Best Scorer Kannika Thipachot capitalized continuously on the sets from countrywoman—and league’s Best Setter—Phomla Soraya. Thipachot wisely garnered most of her initial points avoiding the tall Net Spikers middle-blockers in Santiago and former league MVP Pheenok Kesinee; targeting the feeble net defenses by the shorter Rubie de Leon and Maru Banaticla.

Smart-Maynilad countered with offense coming from its six-foot pagodas of Santiago and Kesinee and mixed in with a few open hits from Kotruang but it still wasn’t enough as the Rising Suns nipped them to take the opener 26-24.

In the second set, cracks began showing for the Net Spikers. The usually consistent floor defense from newly-installed Best Digger Melissa Gohing and explosive attacks from former Finals MVP Alyssa Valdez were visibly lacking. Gorayeb tried to fix the libero situation by inserting Gata-Pantone—a five-time league Best Digger recipient. Gata-Pantone instantly had an impact but Valdez’s offense began hitting rock bottom.

The breaking point for the 20-year-old Batangas lass when her spike was returned and had to scurry for a save, in the process colliding with teammate Banaticla. Valdez lay sprawled on the ground clutching her already banged up right shoulder and as she stood up, held the right side of her neck and was in obvious pain. Gorayeb had no alternative but to send in reserve Gretchel Soltones to replace her on the floor.

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The moment the senior Lady Eagle got to the bench, she collapsed at the leg of Gorayeb and began weeping uncontrollably—like a child whose balloon had flown away. Gorayeb and former Ateneo skipper Jem Ferrer took turns in trying to console her.

I was broadcasting the game and in all my years of covering Valdez had never seen her in this state. During a technical timeout, I turned to Public Address announcer—and veteran volleyball coach—Mac Gepuela to seek clarity. Gepuela, a long time volleyball practitioner, offered her assessment:

“I think she’s exhausted,” she surmised. “She’s been training with two teams (Ateneo and Smart-Maynilad) everyday and it’s also (scholastic) Finals week. Her crying looks to be more of disappointment and a non-verbal apology to her coach for letting the team down than physical pain.”

Cagayan Valley went on to dominate the second set 25-11.

Valdez remained on the sidelines until towards the end of the second set when she mustered enough courage and energy to return to the court—to the appreciation of her legions of fans, but it was too late. The deficit was enormous.

When the third set began, Kesinee started being more vocal and encouraging of her teammates—and also came out more aggressive. It was through Kesinee’s new aura that the Net Spikers began displaying the form that had them contending in the first set. However, the third set also saw Rising Suns Team Captain Angge Tabaquero becoming more involved in the offense as she took turns with Thipachot in consistently bombarding the Net Spikers’ defenses. Cagayan Valley also began getting more help from star utility-spiker Aiza Maizo-Pontillas as the Rising Suns threatened to pull away at the midway point of the set.

But something changed in the ailing Valdez as her digs began turning into clean opportunities for Kesinee and Santiago to bomb away, through de Leon's impeccable playmaking. Gata-Pantone—who helped the Cagayan Valley core as a member of the Power Pinays (national team) that competed in the recently concluded Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) championship in Thailand—began getting her rhythm as she helped Valdez keep what were powerful attacks from the Rising Suns in play.

Smart-Maynilad dueled with Cagayan Valley and with the Net Spikers at setpoint 24-23, de Leon sent her first clean touch to Valdez in the open-spiker zone and “The Phenom” put away the set with a convincing down-the-line detonation. It was a morale boosting score for Valdez and Smart-Maynilad showed a pulse by taking the third set, 25-23.

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Suddenly, the tables were turned in the fourth set.

Cagayan Valley could only capture six attack points as the once blazing guns from the Rising Suns were silenced by effortless retrievals from Gata-Pantone and Kotruang while the Net Spikers’ offense kicked into high gear, courtesy of former two-time league MVP Suzanne Roces—who came off the bench in this match—and a revitalized Valdez helping the duo Kesinee and Santiago.

Smart-Maynilad replicated the shellacking they absorbed in the second set by inflicting the same punishing scoreline to clinch the fourth set—25-11. It was now tied at 2-2 and—quite fittingly—headed to a fifth set.

By this time, a number of fans were drained—both emotionally and vocally. Co-Broadcaster Michele Gumabao and I began going hoarse as well, but this is what the fans wanted: a race to fifteen to decide which team is one win away from the crown.

It was a classic.

At one point of the broadcast, I began a rhetoric countdown saying, “…one team is now eight points away from taking Game 1 (the score then was 7-7)…” I think I repeated this until the score was knotted again at 10-10.

Eventually Cagayan Valley center Wenneth Eulalio scored two of the next three points and it was enough to give the Rising Suns a decisive advantage. Cagayan Valley went on to take the finale, 15-12 and with it claim its fifteenth successive triumph; bringing them a win away from the first ever “perfect” season of 16-0.

After all of that, can Cagayan Valley finally get it done on Sunday?

Both teams were truly spent after that harrowing encounter. Who benefits more from this four-day break?

Will Smart-Maynilad officials once again have to go through the eye of a needle to reacquire Din-Din prior to gametime? Will the pressure finally get to the Rising Suns?

Cagayan Valley Head Coach Nes Pamilar has never coached in a championship series in the league. But his squad is now one win shy of the ultimate prize. Technically, he’s supposed to be the underdog against Gorayeb’s vast championship experience.

But Pamilar—the star setter of the Far Eastern University (FEU) men’s volleyball squad that won the UAAP title in 1987 snapping a 29 year drought—is used to being the underdog.

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“Ako mahilig sa making history (referring to the Tamaraws’ crown when he was a player) at eto nanaman ang pagkakataong gawin yan,” he said to me after the game when I reminded him about his team’s unblemished record.

Gorayeb has remained quiet—an ominous sign.

Enough words. See you on Sunday.

BOXSCORES:

Philippine Army def. Philippines Air Force—26-24, 29-27, 25-21 (Army leads series 1-0)

PA—Gonzaga 15, Balse 11, Daquis 10, Bunag 7, Salak 7, Alarca 6, Bautista 3, Sabas 1, Nunag (L) 0, Iratay 0.

PAF—Cases 19, Yongco 13, Caballejo 11, Ortiz 8, Dimaculangan 4, Abanto (L) 0, Balmaceda (L) 0, de Ramos 0, Pantino 0, Semana 0, Andaya 0, Manzano 0.

Cagayan Valley def. Smart-Maynilad—26-24, 25-11, 23-25, 11-25, 15-12 (Cagayan Valley leads series 1-0)

CV—Thipachot 25, Tabaquero 16, Maizo-Pontillas 10, Eulalio 9, Soraya 5, P. Soriano 3, Dionela (L) 0, Benito 0, Pineda 0, Saet 0, de los Santos 0.

SM-M—Kesinee 20, Santiago 12, Valdez 7, Roces 7, Kotruang 6, Soltones 4, Banaticla 3, de Leon 3, Gohing (L) 0, Gata-Pantone (L) 0, Ferrer 0, C. Soriano 0.

Follow Noel Zarate on Twitter (@NoelZarate) and email sportztackle@yahoo.com