PSL Grand Prix Day #10 (Women’s Knockout Semifinals): Cignal shocks PLDT in five sets, TMS-Army outclasses Cagayan Valley

SPECIAL GAME ON SUNDAY (December 8th at Ynares Sports Complex, Pasig City)

4:00PM “Spike For a Cause”: a benefit game for the victims of typhoon Yolanda

CLASSIFICATION GAMES ON WEDNESDAY (December 11th at Ynares Sports Complex, Pasig City)

2:00PM (W—5th-6th place) Petron vs. RC Cola

4:00PM (W—Bronze Medal) PLDT MyDSL vs. Cagayan Valley

6:00PM (M—Bronze Medal) Giligan’s vs. Maybank

YNARES SPORTS COMPLEX, Pasig City (more pictures to follow)—All it took was one loss at the wrong time for PLDT MyDSL to be ousted from the championship match as Cignal HD stunned the erstwhile undefeated Speed Boosters 17-25, 25-22, 21-25, 27-25, 16-14 in the knockout semifinal stage of the ongoing Philippine Super Liga (PSL) Grand Prix Women’s Division in five harrowing sets while Invitational titlists TMS-Philippine Army made surprisingly quick work of powerhouse Cagayan Valley 25-15, 25-20, 25-17 to enter its second straight finals appearance before an animated and bewildered crowd here.

The Speed Boosters had dispatched all of its opponents in the preliminary round and drew a quarterfinal bye enabling them to be fully rested and ready to take on the upstart HD Spikers—ending the prelims with a lowly 2-3 win-loss card—which needed to overcome a stiff challenge by the Petron Blaze Spikers in the playoff. Cignal was supposed to be the disadvantaged squad heading into the semifinal tiff against the league leaders and it showed with a scattered first set performance.

The thrashing the HD Spikers absorbed in the first set had no indication of the drama that was to follow after that.

Led by the American duo of setter Kaylee Manns and center Savannah Noyes, PLDT MyDSL followed their first set shellacking of the HD Spikers with a good start to the second set where local veterans Suzanne Roces and Charo Soriano joined their imports in trying to re-establish the tempo that gave them the opener. But the second set saw one blistering attack after another from Cignal’s Chinese reinforcement Li Zhanzhan while her counterpart Xie Lei provided additional firepower. The digging of the HD Spikers also improved gradually as former Cagayan Valley libero Jheck Dionela—who was chided by team officials prior to the match for some unwarranted words against the team in her Facebook page—began showing the skills that installed her as one of the best young floor patrollers in the country today.

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And since the first balls were of better quality, Cignal playmaker Chie Saet began seamlessly executing the offense as the HD Spikers tied things up at a set apiece.

The third set saw Manns getting much needed support from the open-spikers’ slot as former Adamson University top gun Angela Benting and reserve Maru Banaticla began connecting to keep the Cignal defenses on their toes. Despite erecting an early lead, the HD Spikers succumbed to a late rally by PLDT MyDSL and surrendered the third set.

The stage was set for the vaunted finishing kick of coach Roger Gorayeb’s Speed Boosters as they have never allowed any of their opponents to take them beyond four sets in the five victories they claimed previous to the semis.

But it was Cignal that raced to 4-0 start to the fourth and PLDT MyDSL played catch-up the whole set—something they never experienced in the prelims. Li and Xie began getting much needed contributions from the Cebuano tandem of Danika Gendrauli and Abby Praca as the outside hitters of the Speed Boosters began losing momentum—and opportunities. Manns went almost exclusively to Noyes and Soriano, and while it kept the team in the set, they just had difficulties getting over the proverbial hump.

Eventually Noyes began dominating in her stint in the frontline in a late rotation and had the Speed Boosters “comfortably” ahead as 22-20 when Li led a massive and cold-blooded surge that allowed the Cignal to capture four straight points and had the squad knocking on the door at set point 24-22. Noyes and Roces fought back valiantly and promptly knotted the count at 24. Cignal attained set point twice more henceforth and it took a major miscommunication lapse on the part of Noyes and PLDT MyDSL skipper Lou Ann Latigay on a high second ball that awarded the HD Spikers the set and with it the final chance to pull off a monumental upset in the fifth and final frame.

The Speed Boosters opened the decider with a 4-0 run, keyed by Manns and Noyes. However, back to back bombs from Praca kept the HD Spikers within striking distance. The final tunring point came when Cignal clawed back and took the lead at 13-12 in the supposed race-to-fifteen and reaching match point first at 14-13. Noyes and Li exchanged points and the final seal on the Speed Boosters’ demise happened moments later when Banaticla’s open spike was blocked by Xie sending the HD Spikers’ faithful into near pandemonium.

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Cignal Head Coach Sammy Acaylar raised his hands in triumph as the HD Spikers achieved the biggest upset of the tournament and barge into the finals anew—as they did in the Invitationals when the squad was bannered by eventual MVP Venus Bernal, collegiate stalwart Royse Tubino and superstar libero Jen Reyes.

Li led all scorers with a PSL career-high 27 points, while Xie finished with fifteen. The rest of the point production came from its phalanx of locals who all chipped-in in their own little way. PLDT MyDSL—obviously disgruntled after the shocker and now relegated to the Bronze Medal match—was paced by Noyes, who also set her own PSL personal best with 26 markers. Roces and Soriano added their own PSL career-highs of twenty and fourteen points respectively.

But the Player of the Game honors were bestowed upon the combination of Dionela and Saet for their brilliant work in their assigned tasks. Although the records will show their opposite numbers in Lizlee Ann Gata-Pantone and Manns outdoing them in terms of overall game statistics, it was the Cignal pair’s steady play that became a huge catalyst in the win.

If there is any consolation for Manns, she set a new PSL mark (and perhaps even a Philippine record) for most excellent sets in a match with a staggering NINETY excellent sets. Saet’s incredible feat of 69 excellent sets pales in comparison to the achievement garnered by the former Iowa State Cyclone.

Cignal rekindles its rivalry with its Invitationals vanquishers the TMS-Philippine Army, which easily trounced a hapless Cagayan Valley squad in the match preceding the five set classic.

The Lady Troopers—also fresh from a bye as the second seed—were on full throttle as the Rising Suns never quite got off the ground in their semifinal tiff.

So uncharacteristic was the fall of Cagayan valley that Thai import Patcharee Saengmuang failed to score a single point for the Rising Suns and not even the presence of the team’s heart and soul (and Power Pinays captain) Angge Tabaquero could save them from what some aficionados describe as their worst performance of the tournament. While that description may be on the harsh side, TMS clicked from the get-go.

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Army Head Coach Rico de Guzman told me that their Thai import Wanitchaya Luangtonglang had not had a chance to practice with the squad in preparation for the knockout encounter as she had been under the weather since their last preliminary round assignment last November 29th. It sure didn’t look like the 21-year-old Bangkok native missed any time as her crisp attacks coupled with more vicious shots from TMS’ youthful local tandem of Rachel Anne Daquis and Jovelyn Gonzaga ran roughshod over the hapless Rising Suns. And while there some signs of life for Cagayan Valley in the closely contested second set, there appeared to be none left by the third set when veteran centers Mary Jean Balse and Jac Alarca led in the finishing touches of a resounding victory that catapults the defending Invitational champs to another shot at a title.

Luangtonglang finished with a game-high fifteen points, while Daquis and Gonzaga contributed eleven points each. Cagayan Valley’s youthful Thai import Wanida Kotruang (who was relieved of her duties during the quarterfinals by Tabaquero due to sore right knee) was the lone bright spot in the Rising Suns’ offense with ten markers.

TMS and Cignal clash for the Gold Medal on Saturday (December 14th) in the main event following the Gold Medal battle in the Men’s Division where PLDT MyDSL locks horns with Systema.

The most gripping PSL sortie concludes next weekend. Who do you see walking away champions?

BOXSCORES:

TMS-Philippine Army (2) def. Cagayan Valley (3)

TMS-PA—Luangtonglang 15, Daquis 11, Gonzaga 11, Alarca 8, Balse 6, Salak 4, Murakoshi (L) 0.

CV—Kotruang 10, Maizo-Pontillas 8, Tabaquero 6, P. Soriano 5, Eulalio 2, Jose 1, Dawis 1, Reyes (L) 0, Gillego (L) 0, Saengmuang 0, Benito 0, Vargas 0.

Cignal HD (4) def. PLDT MyDSL (1)

CHD—Li 27, Xie 15, Gendrauli 8, Penetrante-Ouano 8, Praca 7, Saet 5, Datuin 4, Aguilar 2, Dionela (L) 0, Argarin 0.

PLDT—Noyes 26, Roces 20, C. Soriano 14, Benting 7, Manns 7, Banaticla 6, Latigay 2, Gata-Pantone (L) 1, de Leon 0.

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