PNP trims FEU, revives quarterfinal bid

Games Friday

2 p.m. – FEU vs Army

4 p.m. – Navy vs PNP

Standings            W            L

Cagayan               7              0

Army     5              1

Air Force              5              2

Smart    4              3

Meralco               3              4

Navy      1              5

PNP       1              5

FEU        0              6

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine National Police rebounded from a third set meltdown and bundled out Far Eastern U in four, 25-20, 25-14, 20-25, 25-19, as it kept its quarterfinal hopes alive in the Shakey’s V-League 10 Open Conference at The Arena in San Juan City yesterday.

It was the Lady Patrolers’ first win in six games but it was enough to tie them with the idle Navy Sailors for sixth, making their clash in Friday’s final playdate of the single round elims a knockout affair for the last quarterfinal berth.

Thai import Sangmuang Patcharee and Janine Marciano combined for 44 hits while Frances Molina atoned for her six-point output the last time out with a 14-hit effort, helping the Patrolers nail the elusive win in the season-ending conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s and backed by Mikasa and Accel.

FEU bowed out of the quarters race with a 0-6 card.

In the other game, Air Force charged back from a 1-2 set deficit with a scrambling win in the fourth then wore down Meralco in the decider to clinch a 25-20, 12-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-10 win and finish third in the elims with a 5-2 slate.

The Air Women thus completed their amazing comeback from a 0-2 record by sweeping their next five to boost their record heading to next week’s quarterfinal round behind unbeaten Cagayan Province (7-0) and Army (5-1).

Meralco settled for fifth with a 3-4 card behind Smart-Maynilad’s 4-3 slate.

Jude Ann Caballejo pumped in 26 hits while Joy Cases, Maika Ortiz and Wendy Semana added 14, 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Air Women, who toughened up in the fourth set then unleashed a strong finishing kick in the fifth to snatch the crucial win.

The victory likewise put to naught Coco Wang’s explosive 26-point output for Meralco, which also drew 13 hits from Fille Cainglet, 12 markers from Maureen Ouano and 11 points from Maica Morada.

The Lady Tams came back strong in the third to avert a PNP sweep and kept the game close in the fourth until Patcharee and Marciano imposed their will upfront and the Patrolers broke away from a tight game to win pulling away.

Patcharee wound up with 21 kills, one block and one ace while Marciano unleashed a 20-attack job and finished with 21 points.

Mary Palma and Bernadeth Pons pooled a 31-hit game with the former spiking her performance with five blocks. But the duo failed to draw the needed backup from Samantha Dawson, Kyla Atienza and Gyzelle Sy, who churned out five hits apiece for FEU, which is priming up for the UAAP volley wars.

PNP rattled off a total of 57 spikes, 14 more than FEU but the Lady Tams had more blocks, 7-3, and produced the same number of aces – five.

Meanwhile, the Army-Smart-Maynilad match last Sunday will be shown on GMA News TV Channel 11 today (Wednesday) starting at 1 p.m. while the PNP-FEU clash will be telecast tomorrow, according to the organizing Sports Vision. The Air Force-Meralco faceoff, being played at presstime, will be aired on Friday.