Rising Suns blast Tams, firm up semis bid

MANILA, Philippines - Cagayan Valley kept its win run going, sweeping Far Eastern U for the second straight time, 25-18, 25-10, 25-15, yesterday at the start of the second round elims in the Shakey’s V-League Open at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Scoring leader Sandra delos Santos continued to flash her spiking prowess by coming up with 13 hits, including eight attacks, to spearhead another big romp by the Rising Suns, who toppled the Ateneo Lady Eagles and the Navy Sailors in their last two games at the close of the first round elims last week.

With a 4-2 card, Cagayan remains in third place and well on its way for a Final Four stint in its first season in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

Philippine Army rallied in the third set and completed a similar three-set win over Navy, 25-20, 25-11, 25-23, to close in on unbeaten Sandugo-San Sebastian at 5-1 in the second game.

After a tough first set win and a cruise in the second, the defending champions trailed majority of the third but regrouped and unleashed a series of hits to turn back the Lady Sailors.

Marietta Carolino took charge with 16 points while Rachel Ann Daquis added 13 and Michelle Carolino rammed in nine kills to help carry the Troopers to the win that primed them up for a rematch with the Lady Stags (5-0) tomorrow.

Navy slid to 1-5.

Joy Cases and Honey Tubino finished with nine points apiece while coach Mike Rafael clipped the playing time of reinforcements Kunbang Pornpimol and Sutadta Chuewulim, reserving their strength for crucial games ahead.

The Thai duo saw action in just two sets with Pornpimol scoring five markers and Chuewulim adding four points.

FEU took its sixth straight setback in the league organized by Sports Vision and backed by Mikasa and Accel.

Angeline Tabaquero had eight hits while Wenneth Eulalio added five markers for the Lady Tams, who continued to struggle in the face of the top-notch opposition.

The Suns overpowered the Tams with 37 spikes, 18 more than their rivals, who however, came up with five blocks, one more than Cagayan’s four.

The newcomers also pounced on the Tams’ poor reception, scoring 10 points off the serve to duplicate their 25-20, 25-12, 25-21 victory in their first round faceoff.