Viets sweep Troopers, nail final berth

MANILA, Philippines - Vietnam fended off Philippine Army in the last two sets and hacked out a 25-20, 25-23, 25-23 victory to advance to the finals of the V-League Invitational Club Championship while Ateneo stayed alive by nipping Malaysia in five at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Russian import Ekaterina Martynova made 12 kills after scoring 14 against Ateneo in Thursday’s opener while Tran Thi Loan backed her up with 11 points, including eight attacks, as the Vietnamese swept their first two matches and made it to the finals of the four-team tournament.

Army’s loss, coupled by Ateneo’s thrilling come-from-behind 13-25, 22-25, 25-19, 29-27, 15-12 win over Malaysia in the first game, rendered today’s encounter by the two local teams at the close of the elims a knockout duel for the other finals berth.

Anactaxia Trernai, the other Russian reinforcement, banged in a kill that shattered the 21-all count in the third then the Vietnamese took three of the next five points, including on two Army errors to complete the straight-set win.

“Our defense is very good. But it’s not an easy game,” said Trernai through an interpreter. “We wanted to win every game (in the tournament).”

Rachel Ann Daquis stepped up for Army to fire 16 hits while Michelle Carolino and Mary Jean Balse added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Troopers, who were in sharp form in demolishing the Malaysians the other day.

Earlier, Ateneo fought back from two sets down to stun Malaysia by sweeping the next three frames, including an extended fourth-set escape for a 13-25, 22-25, 25-19, 29-27, 15-12 victory in the event sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and organized by Sports Vision.

Alyssa Valdez, Fille Cainglet and Dzi Gervacio combined in the grueling fourth set battle and the Lady Eagles took charge in the decider to snatch the win that put the Loyola-based squad back in the title hunt after a poor showing against powerhouse Vietnam in the opener of the four-day tournament backed by Accel and Mikasa.

Valdez uncorked a 27-hit performance after struggling with 11 points against the Vietnamese, who dominated the Shakey’s V-League Season 8 first conference champions with a 25-15, 25-16, 25-17 win the other day. Valdez capped his big game with four blocks and two service aces.

Cainglet also rebounded big from a paltry nine-point output, helping Valdez in offense with 20 kills for a 22-point total while Gervacio and Gretchen Ho added 14 and 10 hits, respectively, for Ateneo, which evened its card to 1-1.

“We took advantage of Malaysia’s poor reception and it’s a good thing that my players dished out a good game,” said Ateneo coach Roger Gorayeb in Filipino.

Yew Sook Ting unloaded 26 hits while Jocelyn Teoh added 23 and The Huei Hong and Wong Fei Tien combined for 23 points for Malaysia, which dropped out of the title race with a 0-2 card.

For a while, the Malaysians looked headed for a win after dominating the Eagles in the opener before holding sway to wrap the second.