Philippine Super Liga Grand Prix Week #3 Accolades

The knockout stages are upon us and let’s take a breath before we commence with the medal matches which begin this Wednesday (December 11th).

The quality of volleyball has indeed picked up and the imports for the women’s teams have been vital cogs for their respective squads. Over at the men’s side, the teams have gelled and the suspected stalwarts to begin the season—as well as a few surprise names—have truly stepped it up and it’s the fans that have benefited tremendously from the level of competition.

Let’s being the feting, shall we?

BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK: Rachel Anne Daquis (TMS-Philippine Army)

I guess it’s become apparent that the 25-year-old volleyball ambassadress is not keen on coming off the bench. TMS Head Coach Rico de Guzman opted to rest some of his ailing stars for the knockout stages and went to his youth movement; starring Daquis, 21-year-old Guimaranon Jovelyn Gonzaga and the 21-year-old import tandem of Wanitchaya Luangtonglang of Thailand and Japan’s Yuki Murakoshi. Against a struggling Cignal HD Spikers in their final assignemtn of the preliminaries, Daquis relished her first start of the season. After failing to break into double figures in her first four sorties for the Lady Troopers, the former Queen Tamaraw from FEU notched a season high nineteen markers against the HD Spikers and hardly broke a sweat against the scampering defenses of Cignal. Daquis followed up that sterling performance with an eleven point outburst against Cagayan Valley in the semifinals and was instrumental in bringing her squad to the championship match. Daquis is on a roll, and that bodes well for TMS’ bid for back-to-back PSL titles.

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SURPRISE PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK: Angeline Gervacio (Petron)

Last December 1st, the two winless teams of the women’s division closed out the prelims with RC Cola racing to a 2-0 set lead against Petron. When it seemed that the Raiders would finally get over the hump to snare its first triumph in franchise history, Gervacio began a service assault that had RC Cola all but running for cover. The 21-year-old former skipper of the Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles dispatched four service aces and finished with a season-high fifteen points against the Raiders. “Attorney Dzi”—as she is fondly referred to nowadays due to her present pursuit of a career in law—energized the Blaze Spikers and was a vital cog in Petron’s rise from dead to take the match in five sets. While she failed to duplicate that performance in their four-set loss to Cignal in the quarterfinals, Gervacio—and her wicked jump serve—proved to all that despite a long hiatus from competitive volleyball, she can still bring it and her prowess could be on display again versus the Raiders in the battle for fifth place this coming Wednesday (December 11th).

SECOND STRING STAR OF THE WEEK: Danika Gendrauli (Cignal HD)

Last week, it was her province-mate that copped this award. But this week, the 22-year-old Cebuana lefty showed the chutzpah that landed her a slot in the Power Pinays line-up this year. With fellow Cebuana Rap-Rap Aguilar back in harness after dealing with a nasty right ankle sprain, Gendrauli embraced her role as chief reliever for that utility-spiker position for the HD Spikers. Apparently, Gendrauli saved her best for the knockout stages as she shone off the bench for a game-high (and PSL career-high) seventeen points against Petron in the quarterfinals and followed that up with eight quality points against PLDT MyDSL in that classic of a semifinal affair. Standing only a shade under 5’8”, she made up for whatever she lacked in ceiling with tremendous timing and gutsy aggression that her net opponents just had difficulties dealing with. Will she be primed for a repeat performance in the finale against old foe TMS? We’ll find out this Saturday (December 14th).

OVERACHIEVER OF THE WEEK: Angeli Tabaquero (Cagayan Valley)

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She is perhaps among the best open-spikers in the country now and was fittingly named captain of the Power Pinays during their recent stint in the AVC Championship a few months back. But a spate of injuries recently slowed down the 24-year-old former Queen Tigress from UST and understandably Cagayan Valley Head Coach Nes Pamilar has been proceeding with caution where his star outside hitter is concerned. However, when the Rising Suns’ leading scorer Wanida Kotruang suffered a knee injury in their quarterfinal tiff against RC Cola, Tabaquero responded with a vintage showing. She spelled Kotruang and put up Kotruang like numbers, finishing with fourteen markers on nearly fifty percent efficiency. She also helped in the digging department with six of the team’s 41 total as Cagayan Valley completely outplayed the Raiders en route to its second straight semifinals appearance. Tabaquero once again came off the bench in the semifinals, but just couldn’t come close to her explosion against RC Cola and the Rising Suns fell short of the gold medal match yet again. Tabaquero will have a few months to recuperate from her nagging injuries and will come back strong next season. She’s always found a way to rise from adversity and this will be a feeble challenge for her to overcome.

HIGHLIGHT MOMENT OF THE WEEK: Systema comes back from two sets down, 19-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-11 to oust Giligan’s in men’s semis

Prior to the women’s semifinal clash between Cignal and PLDT MyDSL, I had picked this as the match of the season—and for good reason. Many of us installed the Giligan’s Sisig Kings as the favorite to take home the first ever men’s title of the league. I mean, they are stacked in every position and even have in their arsenal two former UAAP MVPs in UST’s JP Torres and FEU’s Edjet Mabbayad. And in the early goings of their semifinals tilt, it was indeed Torres and Mabbayad conspiring to give Giligan’s the first two sets in convincing fashion. That’s when Systema were roused from their semi-slumber. Smashers’ spiritual leader Rocky Honrade began showing more fangs on offense and former UAAP MVP AJ Pareja denied almost all net attacks by the Sisig Kings that Giligan’s were forced to launch more back row attacks than they did in the first two sets combined. Former De La Salle University stalwart Chris Macasaet took Honrade’s lead and scored most of his team-high eighteen points in the latter three sets. For the Sisig Kings, former UST varsity mainstay John Depante tried to compensate of the sudden slump afflicting Torres and Mabbayad. The former Tigers’ wunderkind finished with a game-high 22 points as the match went the distance with Systema proving to be more steady and more emotionally charged in the end. The Smashers overcame the two-set deficit and became the first team in men’s division history to advance to the finale. It was—as the late, great Joe Cantada quipped—a “Titanic struggle”. Joe would have loved to do the call of that match, for sure.

PERSONALITY OF THE WEEK: Mohammed Ali Hamzah Bin (Maybank)

Although the Maybank Tigers were unable to topple Systema’s eventual finals opponent PLDT MyDSL, the exploits—and leadership by example—of the this former Malaysian national team member became showcased for all to see during that semifinal encounter against the Speed Boosters. Hamzah Bin is the lone import seeing action in the men’s division—teammate Justine Marchadesh is from Indian/Arabic descent, but was born and raised in the Philippines. The Maybank bank officer from Kuala Lumpur did his best to will the Tigers into the match that was eventually won in straight sets by the top seeds. His twelve point performance, the unabashed courage he displayed with his aggressive back row attacks, and the roar he unleashed everytime he scored has endeared him to the Filipino fans. I’m quite sure Maybank—and Hamzah Bin—will have a lot of crowd support when they battle Giligan’s for the bronze medal on Wednesday. He showcased the stuff that made him a national team member and I’m quite sure the Tigers—and the league—benefitted from his presence in the country for this tournament.

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MATCH OF THE WEEK: Women’s Semifinals—Cignal def. PLDT MyDSL in five sets to advance to the championship match

The last time I went hoarse covering a volleyball match was about two months ago, but only because I—along with budding broadcaster Michele Gumabao—were tasked to cover the final triple header of the recently concluded Shakey’s V-League Open Conference. A lot of people were surprised when the first semifinal contest last Saturday between TMS and Cagayan Valley did not live up to the hype these archrivals generated, but everyone was shocked to witness the second tiff between undefeated PLDT MyDSL and the 2-3 Cignal. It began innocently enough with the Speed Boosters easily prevailing in the first set, behind the awesome game of former Queen Eagle Charo Soriano and the impeccable setting of American import Kaylee Manns. The HD Spikers showed tremendous spirit in the second set and were able to grab it from the jaws of defeat in the nick of time with Chinese reinforcement Li Zhanzhan going ballistic. During the third set, one got the sense that it would be battle of desire as Manns teamed up with compatriot Savannah Noyes and veteran Suzanne Roces to quell an uprising from Cignal’s Li, Xie Lei and the local support. The fourth set was the most intense in the women’s wars this season as both teams tried to pound each other into submission with the HD Spikers prevailing on an anticlimactic note when Noyes and Latigay allowed an easy second ball to drop in front of them. That set the stage for the fifth set where Cignal middle hitters Abby Praca and Maureen Penetrante-Ouano chipped-in big time. For PLDT MyDSL, it was Noyes, Roces and a pumped up Manns carrying the ship for the squad. In the end, Li’s firepower and PLDT MyDSL’s errors became the difference makers as the HD Spikers upset the top seeds and moved on to its second straight finals appearance in the emotional encounter. Cignal playmaker Chie Saet set a new setting mark among locals with a staggering 69 excellents, while Manns set a league mark that may never be toppled as her ninety excellent sets defies logic. The liberos fought bitterly for their numbers with PLDT MyDSL’s legendary Lizlee Ann Gata-Pantone coming away with a mind-boggling 37 excellents (17 exellent digs and 20 excellent receptions) while Cignal’s feisty Jheck Dionela garnered 33 excellents (14 excellent digs and 19 excellent receptions). Saet and Dionela went on to be named co-Players of the Game while Li set the season mark for scoring with 28 points in the win. Noyes finished with a PSL career-high 26 in the loss. The other results: the fans in attendance got frayed nerves and the broadcast tandem of Noreen Go and myself had to see a throat doctor. That is now officially the match of the year—bar none.

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OUTSTANDING PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Kaylee Manns (PLDT MyDSL—Women’s)

Despite the heartbreaking loss absorbed by the Speed Boosters to boot them out of gold medal contention, Manns has showed to one and all the importance on having an all-world quality setter and her resilience and unbridled guts made the entire league level up. Needless to say, the former Iowa State Cyclone is leading in all setting departments and is a shoo-in to be named the best in that best position at the end of the tournament. Manns—a native of Kansas—is averaging an astonishing 12.25 excellent sets per set. That’s more than two points ahead of the nearest competition in Cagayan Valley’s April Jose (who is in the midst of her best tour of duty since her college days with FEU) and Saet (who has always been among the tops in setting in her career). More than the outstanding statistics the American all-star has shown is her unique leadership skills on the court. Filipino orchestrators are not the vocal type and usually rely on good receptions to execute well. PLDT MyDSL is the third ranked team in team receptions (TMS and Cagayan Valley are ahead of them), yet Manns is still able to perform at an extremely high level despite not getting ideal first balls often. Her ability to contort her 5’11” frame and send the ball to right spot at the right time has benefited the high percentages of Noyes and Roces in terms of spiking. I really hope all the would-be setters have witness how Manns operates and how she leads. If only one Filipino youngster emerges as a Manns clone in the future, then the Filipino has a great opportunity to be world class at women’s volleyball. Seriously.

PHOTO CAPTION OPPORTUNITY OF THE WEEK

This fan (lower left) appears to be wondering if RC Cola libero Jed Montero got lost heading to the beach or something. Gotta love that quizzical look and Jed’s subsequent “oops” expression. Post away!

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See you on Wednesday for the triple header at the Ynares Sports Complex in Pasig. We got one women’s classification match and two bronze medal games. Who are you pulling for?

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