Ateneo downs Navy, gains semis playoff

MANILA, Philippines - Ateneo got back at Navy and got back into the title hunt, pulling off a 13-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-19 victory to assure itself of a playoff for the last semifinal berth in the Shakey’s V-League Open Conference at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Fille Cainglet and Alyssa Valdez combined for a 38-hit output while Dzi Gervacio stepped up to fire 15 points, including four off the serve, as the Lady Eagles avenged their straight-set loss to the Lady Sailors in the elims last Aug. 11.

More importantly, the win, their second against the same number of losses, guaranteed them of a crack at the last Final Four berth in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza as they moved to solo third behind unbeaten Army (4-0) and second runner San Sebastian (3-1).

Army subdued San Sebastian in a duel of unbeaten teams in the second game, hacking out a 22-25, 25-13, 25-17, 25-23 victory to formalize its stint in the Final Four.

Despite the loss, the Lady Stags also made it to the next round with Ateneo (2-2), Air Force (1-2) and Navy (1-3) battling it out for the last two semis seats.

Michelle Carolino made hit 18, while Rachel Ann Daquis, Mary Jean Balse and Marietta Carolino added 16, 14 and 12 points, respectively, for the Lady Troopers, who will gun for a sweep against Maynilad on Sunday.

American Lauren Ford also came away with 18 hits while Jang Baulee and Joy Benito chipped in 16 and 13 points, respectively, for the Stags.

Ateneo’s win was also a big comeback from a heart-breaking five-set setback to joint leader San Sebastian last Tuesday although it had to rebound from a harrowing loss in the first set to get into the thick of things.

But Cainglet, Valdez and Gervacio, who went on to bag the best player of the game honors, combined in a big second set Ateneo fightback and sustained their form in the next two sets with the rest backing them up with superb floor defense and set plays.

“We struggled with our reception that’s why we had a bad start,” said Ateneo coach Parley Tupaz in Filipino. “But the girls were able to recover in the next three sets.”

The first conference champions also bucked the 42-point combination of former MVPs Suzanne Roces and Nene Bautista and the fierce Navy comeback in the second and third sets that gave them the needed momentum to score the crucial win.

Ateneo took advantage of the absence of Navy’s top defender Micmic Laborte, who sprained her right ankle in last week’s game against San Sebastian and was advised to rest for a week.

Cainglet finished with 19 kills and two blocks while Valdez rammed in 13 attacks and scored three service points for Ateneo, which went on a losing spell in the elims up to the semis until it held off Maynilad in four last Aug. 28.

Rosemarie Prochina and Cecile Cruzada backed Bautista and Roces with nine and eight hits, respectively, for Navy, which slid to 1-3 and will need to beat Air Force on Sunday to stay in the semis race in the season-ending conference of the league backed by Accel, Mikasa and Maynilad.

Meanwhile, the Ateneo-Navy duel will be aired today (Friday) on NBN 4 starting at 2 p.m. an on GMA-7’s international channels GMA Pinoy TV, GMA LifeTV and GMA News TV, according to the organizing Sports Vision.