Petron outlasts Bingo Milyonaryo, Cagayan Valley dumps PLDT MyDSL in PSL q’finals

Games on Friday (July 26) at the MOA Arena, Pasay City:

5:00PM (1) TMS-Philippine Army vs. (4) Cagayan Valley*

7:00PM (2) Cignal HD vs. (3) Petron*

*Games to be televised starting 7:00PM on Solar Sports

PHILSPORTS ARENA, Pasig City—Finally, a classic was captured for the rabid television audiences.

The Petron Blaze Spikers used every last bit of weaponry in their arsenal to eke out a gruelling five-set triumph over the depleted but inspired Bingo Milyonaryo Puffins 27-29, 25-13, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12 to advance to the semifinals of the ongoing Philippine Super Liga (PSL) Invitational even as the Cagayan Valley Rising Suns also advanced in contrasting fashion with a straight-sets victory over PLDT MyDSL here.

QF#1: Petron def. Bingo Milyonaryo in 5 sets

Rhea Dimaculangan proved to be the big difference for the Blaze Spikers as she nailed six of her eleven points on service aces--enough to derail any momentum the Puffins could have conjured up--and book a Final Four date with idle Cignal HD. Dimaculangan’s timely bombs and impeccable setting allowed Petron to buck the late game loss of open-spiker Angeli Tabaquero, who allegedly landed on her right knee in a retrieval play and never returned for the Blaze Spikers.

Petron, the third seed in the knockout stages, was led by center Maika Ortiz with fifteen, while former Ateneo Lady Eagles skipper Fille Cainglet contributed fourteen markers off the bench in what has been dubbed as the most exciting match of the tournament so far—and the first time a five-setter was shown on the league’s official network Solar Sports.

Previously, the three matches that went the distance happened in the preliminary round’s third scheduled game—which was no longer covered for television owing to the broadcast deal entered into by the league and the sports television giant. The virtual slugfest between two of the most popular teams in the tournament lasted more than two hours with the first set alone taking up more than thirty minutes to complete.

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Bingo Milyonaryo drew heroic efforts from former two-time UAAP MVP Maureen Penetrante-Ouano, who scored a game-high 17 points, supported by reigning UAAP Finals MVP Michele Gumabao’s sixteen. FEU’s Maica Morada—more known as a deadly middle-hitter—had to moonlight in the open-spiker position as Stephanie Mercado (who was in uniform, but not in the official roster) was still out with an ankle sprain and Team Captain Ivy Remulla was out of the country on business. Morada unloaded thirteen points; showing her versatility in almost every facet of the Bingo Milyonaryo schemes, but it just wasn’t enough to maintain the strong showing by the Puffins as—for the second time in the tournament—Petron emerged victorious.

Dimaculangan, because of the numerous intangibles she brought to the table for the Blaze Spikers, was adjudged Player of the Game.

QF#2: Cagayan Valley def. PLDT MyDSL in straight-sets

The second match started out in a similar fashion to that of the earlier tiff with both Cagayan Valley and PLDT MyDSL battling to a first set extension.

The Speed Boosters of PLDT MyDSL actually had complete control of the opener and were ahead about 95% of the way—through the aggression shown by former Adamson University captain Angela Benting and former NCAA MVP Lou Ann Latigay; unleashing one wicked spike after another. However, the Rising Suns of Cagayan Valley made their move in the twilight of the first canto behind the blazing cross-court hits of Joy Cases and net incursions of quicker Sandra de los Santos. Cagayan Valley finally captured their first lead of the set at set point 26-25 as center Liza de Ramos eventually scored the final point to give the opener to the Rising Suns.

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From that moment onwards, Cagayan Valley began dominating the match; with de los Santos’ misdirection on her power tips and Cases’ constant infiltration of the frontline defenses of the Speed Boosters the major catalysts of the pull-away. Fifth year Lady Falcon Sheila Pineda began waxing hot as well in the third set as PLDT MyDSL suddenly had no answer for the Rising Suns’ offensive juggernaut and their own reception deteriorated greatly. The match was over in less than ninety minutes.

Cagayan Valley was led by Cases and de los Santos with 18 and 17 markers, respectively while Pineda added fourteen. PLDT MyDSL had no player achieving double-figures in the loss with Latigay top scoring with a mere nine points. MVP candidate Pau Soriano could only muster seven markers in the loss that relegated them to the match for fifth place against Bingo Milyonaryo, which will be the curtain-raiser for the final triple-header this Sunday (July 28) at the MOA Arena.

The Rising Suns now face the top seed TMS-Philippine Army in the semifinals whose double-header is on Friday (July 26), also at the same Pasay City venue.

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For her relentless attacks against the Speed Boosters, Cases was named Player of the Game.

PSL Semifinals

This now brings up an intriguing pair of matches whose outcome will determine the protagonists for the first ever PSL Invitational championship.

Cagayan Valley is the only team to have dealt a loss to the Lady Troopers of the TMS-Philippine Army—having accomplished the feat on opening day, in a five-set saga. The win by the Rising Suns in the quarterfinals snapped their two-game skid and look poised to bring the same intensity against the Lady Troopers on Friday. Pineda has began becoming a scoring option for Head Coach Nes Pamilar and setter Wendy Anne Semana has now completely figured out her Rising Suns teammates. These are major positives moving forward for Cagayan Valley; a team that was put together practically on the eve of the league’s opening.

The TMS-Philippine Army, however, have added more firepower into their line-up with the activation of Philippine beach volleyball icon Jovelyn Gonzaga, and if her debut performance against the hapless Bingo Milyonaryo squad is any indication of what the 21-year-old Ilongga bring to the forefront for the Lady Troopers, then it was take either an extremely special game for the Rising Suns or an extremely lackluster game from Army for Cagayan Valley to pull the upset. The Lady Troopers are already boasting of a roster that includes MVP candidate Joanne Bunag, former national team stalwarts Mary Jean Balse, Tina Salak, Michelle Carolino and Nene Bautista plus former UAAP MVP Jacqueline Alarca in their fold. Gonzaga’s addition—as I've written before—has just made a strong team even more formidable. But as they say, the ball is round and anything can—and will—happen.

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The Cignal-Petron encounter will be the interesting one, as well as the one which could draw the biggest audience.

HD Spikers’ skipper Venus Bernal will not only be going up against the core of her former UST Tigresses, but she will also be going up against her former coach Vilet Ponce de Leon; who has done a masterful job in bringing the Blaze Spikers up to speed of late. Bernal, one of the leading candidates for MVP, will rely on the steadiness and efficiency of superstar libero Jen Reyes to help create clean opportunities for top setting prospect Arriane Argarin to execute the Cignal offense. League’s leading spiker Royse Tubino will find herself in a tough battle at the net, though, against the Petron frontline led by Ortiz, Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and Gretchen Ho.

However, the Blaze Spikers will still have to check on the health of Tabaquero if the bum knee is fully recovered by that time. Petron also absorbed another blow in their already embattled frontline as former Ateneo Head Coach Charo Soriano will not be able to see any further action after announcing that she has to join her family on a trip abroad, forcing her to miss the remainder of the tournament. This means that Ortiz, Maizo and Ho will now need additional support from former national team pagoda Roxanne Pimentel-So to help solidify the hole that Soriano’s absence will create.

In any event, fans will be looking at three key match-ups in this one: Tubino vs. Ortiz, Bernal vs. UST and the battle of two of the most celebrated liberos in the UAAP's recent years with Reyes tangling anew with former La Salle floor patroller Melissa “The Ninja” Gohing.

X-Factors such as Cainglet, Dimaculangan and hard-hitting Judy Caballejo will also face off against Argarin and the Cebu power-pair of Danika Gendrauli and Rap-Rap Aguilar. In short, we’re in for a Friday thriller in this one.

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I’ll be once again broadcasting the matches with my two buddies in the quarterfinals: Anne Remulla along with Miakka Lim and since we’re together again, there’s a good chance that at least one of these matches will go the distance. It’s just the kind of vibe we bring, I guess. But as I always say, it’s for the fans.

So who are you pulling for in the Philippine Super Liga semifinals?

BOX SCORES:

QF#1: (3) Petron def. (6) Bingo Milyonaryo—27-29, 25-13, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12

Petron†: Ortiz 15, Cainglet 14, Maizo-Pontillas 13, Dimaculangan 11, Tabaquero 9, Caballejo 7, C. Soriano 6, Ho 2, Gohing (L) 0, Acevedo 0.

Bingo Milyonaryo: Penetrante-Ouano 17, Gumabao 16, Morada 13, Laborte 11, Ortega-Patrona 10, Saet 5, Jose 1, Yumang 1, Peñano (L) 0, Tabuena-Cruzada 0, Llaguno 0.

QF#2: (4) Cagayan Valley def. PLDT MyDSL—27-25, 25-20, 25-15

Cagayan Valley†: Cases 18, de los Santos 17, Pineda 14, Manzano 7, de Ramos 4, Semana 1, Puylong (L) 0, Dionela (L) 0, Espelita 0, Mangui 0.

PLDT MyDSL: Latigay 9, Benting 7, Moralde 7, P. Soriano 7, Dolar 3, Vargas 3, Macatuno 2, Dawis 1, Gata-Pantone (L) 0.

† Advances to Semifinals

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