GAMES TODAY POSTPONED Shakey’s V-League Open opens: Meralco, Smart notch contrasting wins

Alright, I don’t know why this post didn’t show up earlier today. I must have clicked something wrong while trying to put it up and was surprised to see it still pending. My best guess is that the inclement weather screwed up both the posting process and the blogger—my eyes were shutting by themselves during the proof-reading and layout portions of the job. So, hopefully, this is better late than later. ­-@NoelZarate

GAMES TODAY (August 20) POSTPONED

SAN JUAN ARENA, San Juan City—The long awaited kick off of the Shakey’s V-League (SVL) Open conference commenced with sister squads Meralco and Smart coming away with contrasting victories to begin the almost two-month long saga in the season-ending offering of the country's premier women's volleyball league’s tenth season here.

Meralco def. Philippine National Police 25-17, 17-25, 21-25, 25-15, 15-9

Immediately fireworks were on display in the initial encounter as Meralco—consisting of various members of Ateneo, La Salle, FEU and the College of St. Benilde and first conference champion NU's superstar libero Jen Reyes—locked horns with the previously unheralded Lady Patrollers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in what many thought was going to be a walk in the park for the SVL veterans of the Power Spikers—Meralco’s witty moniker.

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After all, Meralco boasts of such stalwarts like former league MVP Maureen Penetrante-Ouano, hard-hitting open spikers Fille Cainglet and Stephanie Mercado and wunderkind Maica Morada, all of whom saw action in the recently concluded Philippine Super Liga (PSL) and are in tip top volleyball shape. PNP’s lone marquee name was former DLSU star Michelle Datuin and a support cast headlined by a phalanx of NCAA youngsters in Letran’s Kamille Ogana and San Beda’s Janine Marciano and Frances Molina. Of the Lady Patrollers, only Datuin, Ogana and Roby Remigio (formerly of FEU) were the only ones who had had prior experience playing in the bright lights of the SVL.

However, right from the get-go, Marciano and Molina showed the spunk they exhibited in the NCAA wars as they bombarded the stacked frontline of the Power Spikers and had a great degree of success. Meralco used its extra seasoning behind the timely hits of Morada and Penetrante-Ouano to claim the opening set. The tables were turned in the second when PNP Head Coach Bob Malenab—a former SVL referee—inserted unknown Ana Veronica Concepcion in to the line-up and immediately made an impact as the team’s setter.

Concepcion is an actual policewoman from Davao who, according to assistant coach Mechelle Guillermo, had to be issued an order to report to NCR and eventually suit up for the Lady Patrollers. Concepcion showed a more mature and steady approach to the sets over the younger starter Remigio. She repeatedly fed Marciano and Molina and even provided some valuable touches for Datuin and Ogana as PNP captured the next two sets to threaten to pull off an opening day shocker heading into the fourth canto.

But then Caignlet and Mercado began finding cracks in the Lady Patrollers’ defenses and began complimenting the already stellar performances of Morada, Penetrane-Ouano and a resilient Ivy Remulla—who appears to have completely turned her back on broadcasting to once again make an impact on the volleyball floor. It was the only juncture of the entire match that Meralco Head Coach Oliver Almadro did not experiment with the six on the floor and the Power Spikers convincingly forced a decider.

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That’s when Penetrante-Ouano took over; scoring six of the team’s total output in the final set as she was also instrumental in silencing the guns of Marciano and Molina. Meralco used its vast experience to the hilt to churn out the five-set triumph over a team that will never again be underestimated. Penetrante-Ouano was chosen as Player of the Game for her 19 point effort in the win, leading three others in double-figures. Marciano and Molina notched an identical 22 markers for the Lady Patrollers who next take on Smart on Friday (August 23).

Smart def. FEU 25-16, 25-5, 25-19

For Smart (moniker pending), dressing only eight players was apparently not a problem as they thrashed FEU in straight sets. The Lady Tamaraws are the only collegiate squad seeing action in this eight-team tilt and their presence in the SVL Open helps them gear up for the upcoming UAAP Season 76.

“They are a very, very young team,” former FEU Men’s Basketball Head Coach Bert Flores (who served as "OIC" Team Manager) said, in the vernacular. “The goal is (to) be ready for the UAAP. We’ll learn as many lessons as we can by being here.”

For FEU, the match against eight perennial all-stars was also used as an acid test for two potential recruits in cousins Jerrilli Malabanan and Charlene Nerio, who are both high school seniors in the United States. The balikbayan pair are still undecided on whether or not to pursue their tertiary education in their motherland and could be close to a favourable decision after that initial salvo in the centerstage of televised volleyball, at least that’s what some FEU faithful hope for.

“Hopefully they saw how FEU can mold them,” an FEU fan told me after the match. “They could be assets to the school and the school an asset to them in terms of education.”

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Smart Head Coach Roger Gorayeb once again had a colourful quote to share with Courtside Reporter Anne Remulla and myself prior to the game: “We may be lacking in number but we are definitely not lacking in desire,” the multi-awarded mentor quipped with his disarming smile to boot.

With only nine players in Smart’s roster as of the moment, Gorayeb even took to the floor without celebrated open-hitter Alyssa Valdez, who was excused for personal reasons.

However, Smart’s line-up reads like the results of an all-star ballot: skipper Rubie de Leon (the reigning Finals MVP), back-up setter Jem Ferrer (a former Finals MVP), open-hitters Maru Banaticla (one of the scoring leaders during UST's 2010 UAAP title-run) and Gretchel Soltones (San Sebastian's leading scorer during the last NCAA), middle-hitters Charo Soriano (former champion SVL coach) and Nica Guliman (former member of the national team), utility spiker Suzanne Roces (multiple SVL MVP recipient) and libero Melissa Gohing (a national team candidate and a four-time UAAP champion). And boy did they play like all-stars as they took turns dismantling any form of defense the Lady Tamaraws had.

Banaticla lit it up for a game-high 19 points, more than cancelling out FEU center Remy Palma as the team’s lone source of income with thirteen markers.

But more than the utter dominance showed by Smart was how they “forced” FEU into eclipsing a league record that has stood for more than three years: lowest point total in a set.

Previously, that unenviable distinction belonged to the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons when they were held to a mere six points in the 2010 first conference in a match against San Sebastian. The Lady Tamaraws could only muster five points in their second set loss to Smart, adding to the woes that plagued them on both fronts in the one-sided affair.

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If there was a silver lining for FEU was that the receive-set-spike combo of Tin Agno to skipper/setter Gyzelle Sy and then to Palma was on the money, especially in the third set when the Lady Tamaraws made a little noise. With the duo of Malabanan and Nerio still groping for form and crowd-favorite Toni Basas still nursing a knee injury, FEU may need a few games to realize its initial potential. But Flores was right: it is indeed a very, very young team with only Sy and Agno well above 21 years of age. That’s a good prospect for Head Coach Shaq de los Santos and the budding program moving forward.

The remaining six teams will debut today (August 20) with a triple-header at the league’s preliminary and quarterfinal round home, the San Juan Arena.

FEU tries to pull off an upset against the powerhouse Philippine Army in the opening match at 2:00PM while the much anticipated clash between the Philippine Navy—backstopped by defensive icon Mic-Mic Laborte—and Cagayan Valley—bolstered by an another all-star line-up now reinforced by two Thai imports—happens at 4:00PM. The nightcap will be the tiff between opening day winner Meralco and the “new-look” Philippine Air Force, featuring the likes of Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) aces Iari Yongco, Maika Ortiz and former Finals MVP Rhea Dimaculangan at 6:00PM.

This conference ends sometime in October, and as early as now we will already be seeing a multitude of high-level volleyball matches. That’s the Shakey’s V-League Open. See you later at the Arena.

BOXSCORES

Meralco def. PNP, 25-17, 17-25, 21-25, 25-15, 15-9

MERALCO: Penetrante-Ouano 19, Morada 15, Remulla 15, Mercado 12, Cainglet 7, Jose 6, Reyes (L) 0, Quemada 0, Bello 0, de Guzman 0.

PNP: Marciano 22, Molina 22, Datuin 7, Ogana 7, Concepcion 3, Mia 2, Tadeo (L) 0, Labrador 0, Remigio 0, Dave 0.

Smart def. FEU, 25-16, 25-5, 25-19

SMART: Banaticla 19, Roces 9, Soltones 9, Guliman 5, Soriano 5, de Leon 2, Ferrer 2, Gohing (L) 0.

FEU: Palma 13, Malabanan 4, Dawson 3, Nerio 2, Pons 2, Basas 2, Simborio 1, Agno (L) 0, Atienza (L) 0, Sy 0, Bagang 0, Papa 0.

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