V-League: Perpetual Help and UST cruise by their opponents with three-set victories

 

(Updated 6:16 pm) The University of Perpetual Help System Dalta Lady Altas and the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses defeated their respective foes, with each picking up three set victories, in the 10th season of the Shakey’s V-League first conference, Thursday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan. The first match of the day featured the reigning NCAA champions, University of Perpetual Help System Dalta Lady Altas, dominating the Cebu-based University of San Carlos Lady Warriors, for their first win of the elimination round, 25-14, 25-19, and 25-19. It was a sloppy start for the Lady Warriors as multiple miscommunications on the floor led to a multitude of unforced errors at the start of the first set. The Lady Altas benefited from the poor service receptions of the Lady Warriors, which led to multiple easy attacks from Honey Royse Tubino. Despite Methosheena Bate and Suzette Panis playing well for USC, their team was simply too off their groove as they sealed in their defeat with an interference error, for a score of 25-14. The Lady Warriors started the second set with a more aggressive pace, as they racked up an early 3-0 lead. Unfortunately for USC, their inconsistencies would still haunt them as the well-experienced Lady Altas took advantage. Sandra Delos Santos, April Sartin, and Norie Jane Diaz were too much for the Lady Warriors as the Lady Altas piled up a 16-11 lead by the second technical timeout of the set. Chona Gesulga and Abigail Praca were aggressive enough to keep up the fight for the Lady Warriors, but their unforced errors dealt too much damage for their team, as a service error buried them in a 2-0 situation with the score of 25-19. With the Lady Warriors frustrated and UPHSD’s guest player Joy Cases and the rest of her team playing a solid service game, the Lady Altas brought themselves ahead with a six-point lead at 15-9, come the third set. Praca, Panis and Nina Cortes would push USC closer at 18-19, but their efforts were to fall short against Tubino and Sartin’s quick, yet punishing attacks, as UPHSD picked up the set and the win at 25-19. The Perpetual Help victory featured the Lady Altas scoring off the Lady Warriors’ sloppy performance, as USC gave up the equivalent of one whole set of errors, or 25 points. Despite Suzette Panis leading all scorers with 12, Perpetual Help just had a more well-rounded scoring game, with five players tallying at least seven markers. Honey Rose Tubino and April Sartin paced the Lady Altas, with 11 points each. Tubino also led all servers with three aces, while Arriane Argarin lined-up 19 excellent sets. In the second game, the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses earned their third win in four outings, picking up a three set sweep against the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Lady Knights, 25-16, 25-23 and 25-20. UST played well to kick off the first set with a quick 8-3 start, care of the Tigresses' athleticism. Aiza Maizo, Jessey De Leon, Pamela Lastimosa and Maika Ortiz were all over the place with their high-leaping ability, as extended their advantage to 16-8, helped out by some well-timed blocking. Letran’s guest players Patcharee Sangmuang and Melissa Ogana stayed aggressive for their team, but the Tigresses were just too dominant, as they tallied a 25-16 first set win. The Tigresses were still in perfect form at the start of the second set as Carmela Tunay, Maizo and Ortiz brought their team into an 8-3 advantage by the first technical timeout. Unfortunately for UST, Sangmuang, Melissa Cu and Sarah Espelita rallied Letran to a 14-5 run to propel them ahead, 17-13 lead. Letran would take that lead at a more crucial stage, 22-18, thanks to Queenie Mondejar’s service game and the Lady Knights’ hustle. But just like any other veteran team, the Tigresses fought back as they remained aggressive. The Lastimosa-De Leon front-row duo were on target during those late-game situations, returning back the lead to the girls in Gold and White at 23-22. With the momentum completely on the Tigresses’ side, Letran committed a crucial unforced error, which gave UST the hard-fought set at 25-23. In what seemed to be a Letran blowout based on how well the Lady Knights started the third set at 6-2, the explosiveness of Maizo pushed the Tigresses back in the game at 7-all. With the UST drumline echoing throughout the arena, the Tigresses bounced back to forge a 15-11 advantage.   Despite Sangmuang and Ogana trying to regain the lead for Letran, the Lady Knights would always have their attacks answered back by the lefty Maizo. UST finished the set at 25-20, with an emphatic running-spike special from Ortiz. The 24 excellent sets of Rhea Dimaculangan distributed the scoring for the Tigresses. UST had five players score above eight points, with three of them reaching double-digit figures with Aiza Maizo leading all scorers with 16 points. Patcharee Sangmuang was the only player for Letran to score in double figures with 13. Letran failed to pick up a win in the Shakey’s V-League as they end their campaign with a 0-4 record. - CLP/AMD, GMA News    

Game 1

 

University of San Carlos – Panis 12, Bate 11, Praca 4, Gesulga 3, Cortes 3

 

Perpetual – Tubino 11, Sartin 11, Diaz 9, Cases 8, Delos Santos 7, Argarin 3, Suyat 1

 

Game 2

 

University of Sto. Tomas – Maizo 16, Ortiz 14, Lastimosa 10, De Leon 8, Tunay 8, Reyes 4, Dimaculangan 2, Hirotsuji 1