Ateneo stays undefeated in q’finals, outlasts Army; NU shocks Cagayan Valley in Shakey’s V-League Open

QUARTERFINALS TEAM STANDINGS:

Philippine Army 6-3*

PLDT Home Telpad 5-3

Philippine Air Force 5-4

Cagayan Valley 4-4

Ateneo de Manila University 4-5

National University 2-7†

*Assured of semis

†Will not advance to semis

GAMES ON THURSDAY (August 14th at The Arena, San Juan City)

2:00PM – Cagayan Valley vs. PLDT Home Telpad

4:00PM – Ateneo de Manila University vs. National University

THE ARENA, San Juan City—Sophomore opposite spiker Michelle Morente tallied a league record ten service aces—five of which came in the fifth and final set—as the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) Lady Eagles avenged their first round loss against the Philippine Army Lady Troopers 25-19, 19-25, 21-25, 25-21,16-14 in what is being hailed as the “match of the year” while the already ousted National University played their spoilers’ role to the hilt by dealing defending champions Cagayan Valley their third straight loss also in five sets 23-25, 18-25, 25-16, 25-22, 16-14 in the ongoing quarterfinal round of the Shakey’s V-League Open here.

The win by Ateneo gave them a realistic opportunity at a previously improbable shot at the semifinals and have even garnered more points than the Lady Rising Suns with the pulsating victory—their fourth straight—and remain the only unbeaten squad in the round. The loss by the Lady Troopers hardly dented their already lofty pirch as the lone official semifinals qualifier, but sent red flags raising as they have dropped two of their last four encounters after being beaten only once during the elimination round.

Morente was already the subject of pre-game discussions due to her lackluster showing in the previous Lady Eagle tiffs—albeit all wins—and was still relatively quiet throughout the all-important grudge match against the very same team that dealt them a heartbreaking five set loss in the first round. The 18-year-old still did some damage from the service line within the first four sets and was also instrumental in assisting libero Den-Den Lazaro with numerous digs during the multitude of long rallies that was prevalent in the match.

Ateneo, in fact, had to survive an early tester as they fell behind in the first set 10-3, before the usually solid reception of Army deserted them midstream; leading to a slew of aces hurled by the Lady Eagles’ servers.

No one could have predicted that that would be a precursor to that dramatic fifth set finish.

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League scoring leader Alyssa Valdez was her usual prolific self anew, tallying a game-high 28 points but chipped-in a big contribution on the defensive end by notching four block points and also registering ten excellent digs. Veteran “converted” quicker Amy Ahomiro also had a career performance, matching her season-high eighteen points in the win.

But the Lady Eagles had to deal with an inspired showing by two-time Finals MVP Rachel Anne Daquis as she showed no signs of the muscle ailment that sidelined her in Army’s shocking loss to the Philippine Air Force last week. The 26-year-old former Far Eastern University (FEU) stunner pulled off a yeoman’s effort of 23 markers highlighted by three block points, three service aces and a relentless bombardment of the Ateneo net defenses. Her opposite winger Jovelyn “The Bionic Gwapa” Gonzaga also was an aggressive force, helping out with fourteen points.

With both teams and their stars slugging away at optimum efficiency, the fifth set showdown was inevitable.

Army got off to a good start, leading 5-2 behind Daquis’ assaults and all the Lady Eagles could do was try to keep up as it appeared the veteran Lady Troopers had saved their best for last. With Army up 9-6—and the pro-Ateneo crowd growing restless and fearing another end-game debacle—Morente took to the service area and unleashed three consecutive service aces; two the backrow where Gonzaga was dislodged and one to the short court that created a mini campfire. After Lady Troopers Head Coach Rico de Guzman sued for time in an effort to ice steadily confident Ateneo server and realign his reception formation, Morente promptly fired two more in succession and gave the Lady Eagles an unlikely two point cushion 11-9 before her next serve went long.

The Lady Troopers attained match point first, but a series of hitting errors against former league MVP Mary Jean Balse coupled by an Ahomiro kill knotted the count at 14-all.

Ateneo setter Jia Morado then fired two more aces to end the more than two hour saga to the delight of their frenzied followers of over one thousand weekday fans.

Morente’s ten aces eclipsed the old record of eight shared by Daquis, former Lady Eagles Charo Soriano (now with PLDT Home Telpad), Dzi Gervacio, Air Force’s Rhea Dimaculangan (set when she was still playing for the University of Santo Tomas) and Cagayan Valley’s Chie Saet (as a player for De La Salle University). The five in a row ties Dimaculangan’s most consecutive, but it has never been done in the fifth set.

Despite the loss Army still sits atop the leaderboard as suddenly even the slots allotted for the second to fourth seeds are now uncertain following NU’s win over the Rising Suns.

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NU's 6'6" quicker Jaja Santiago erupted for 24 points on a mere 48 spike attempts as the Lady Bulldogs kept Cagayan Valley winless in this round. NU opener Myla Pablo also churned out her best showing of the conference with a season-high fifteen points, while the formerly quiet Rizza Mandapat added fourteen in the Lady Bulldogs’ epic climb from two sets down to get their first triumph of the quarterfinals.

Despite the win, however, NU is already out of the running for a semifinals berth and now pulls Cagayan Valley near the doldrums with them.

The Rising Suns have lost all three of their quarterfinal matches so far and now find themselves in dire straits by needing victories over PLDT Home Telpad and Air Force to round out their harrowing schedule of five straight matches after opening the first two competition days idle.

Aiza Maizo-Pontillas once again led Cagayan Valley's futile effort with a team-high 21 points and was the lone bright spot anew for the Rising Suns as the eleven point contributions from Rosemarie Vargas and Wenneth Eulalio went for naught.

As things stand now in the points race, Cagayan Valley has slipped to fifth place with twelve points while Ateneo’s win over Army gave the Lady Eagles thirteen points total. Idle PAF is at fourteen points while the slumping Turbo Boosters have sixteen. Of the aforementioned squads, PLDT Home Telpad has the best shot at joining the Lady Troopers, but they must take care of business in their remaining two games—against the Rising Suns on Thursday and against Army on Sunday.

The Ateneo-NU tiff will be viewed by the OBF Faithful as “the” knockout match. A win by the Lady Eagles (and hence a sweep of the quarterfinals) gives them five wins and could either move on to the semis outright (if Cagayan Valley fails to pick up a win in their last two games) or at least a playoff.

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If Cagayan Valley manages to defeat the Turbo Boosters, their closing match against Air Force on Sunday (August 17th) will be for the third slot. The loser of that faces Ateneo in a playoff—IF the Lady Eagles get past NU on Thursday.

A loss by Ateneo against the Lady Bulldogs still won’t eliminate them, but they will need a lot of help from Air Force, if not from PLDT.

In short (I know, too late), only Army is through and a big chance that so are the Turbo Boosters, while NU is already out of the running. Everything else is still up in the air.

It appears it’ll be down to three teams contesting two slots, with Air Force having the inside track at the third slot.

Many things will be clearer after Thursday, but what a pair of matches it was indeed!

I apologize for not being as religious in my articles over the past week as many things that needed my attention had to be addressed. However, here at the homestretch, I’m here for the climax.

Will Ateneo complete their Cinderella run (they must beat NU first), will Cagayan Valley rebound (they must beat both PLDT and Air Force to avoid complications), or will Air Force be the team that gets caught in the middle of the drama as a reluctant pawn (a loss against Cagayan Valley may throw them into a playoff for the final semis berth)?

In the famous lyric by Michael Stipe, “Oh no, I said too much, I haven’t said enough.”

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That’s the paradox of this particular piece, I’m afraid. Let’s just watch the games, shall we? After all, #ItsForTheFans

BOXSCORES:

National University def. Cagayan Valley - 23-25, 18-25, 25-16, 25-22, 16-14

NU—Santiago 24, Pablo 15, Mandapat 14, Perez 10, Singh 9, Dadang 3, General (L) 0, G. Valdez 0.

Cagayan Valley—Maizo-Pontillas 21, Eulalio 11, Vargas 11, Marciano 9, P. Soriano 9, Tabaquero 7, Sy 1, Pineda (L) 0, Saet 0.

Ateneo de Manila University def. Philippine Army - 25-19, 19-25, 21-25, 25-21,16-14

AdMU—A. Valdez 28, Ahomiro 18, Morente 17, Gequillana 6, Morado 5, B. de Leon 4, Madayag 2, Lazaro (L) 0, Tan 0.

Army—Daquis 23, Gonzaga 14, Bautista 13, Balse 10, Sabas 7, Salak 5, Agno (L) 0, Siatan-Torres 0, Gonzales 0.

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