Army dismantles PNP, props up bid

MANILA, Philippines - Army withstood Phl National Police’s tough stand in the last two sets and essayed a 25-13, 25-23, 25-22 victory to zero in on one of the semifinal berths in the Shakey’s V-League Season 10 Open Conference at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

The Army Women went to the power-hitting troika of Mary Jean Balse, Rachel Daquis and Jovelyn Gonzaga to defuse the Patrolers’ fightback and complete the 68-minute victory at the start of the carryover quarterfinal phase of the season-ending conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s.

Balse, a former MVP who helped UST win championships in both the UAAP and in this Shakey’s sponsored league, and Daquis led the attack with 15 hits apiece while Gonzaga, an Iloilo lass, scattered 11 markers as the Lady Troopers improved to 7-1 (win-loss) and stayed half-a-game behind unbeaten Cagayan Province (7-0). The two teams are way ahead of third running Smart-Maynilad and Air Force.

“We’re slowly getting closer to the form that we wanted and we hope to sustain this,” said Army coach Rico de Guzman.

Smart-Maynilad got back at Air Force, 25-23, 22-25, 25-15, 25-18, to fan its own semifinal bid in the other game.

Alyssa Valdez, who fired 28 hits in Smart-Maynilad’s losing stand against Army in the elims last week, uncorked a 25-point game, topped by 18 attacks, while Lithawat Kesinee added 18 markers as the Net Spikers tied their victim at third at 5-3.

Judy Ann Caballejo scored 17 hits, Joy Cases unloaded 11 kills while Liza de Ramos and Maika Ortiz combined for 16 points for the Air Women, who failed to sustain their second set fightback despite winding up with more excellent sets, 29-27, and almost matching their rivals spikes, 43-44.

With its talent-laden crew, Army is tipped to clinch one of the berths in the crossover semis of the league backed by Mikasa and Accel where the No. 1 team clashes with the No. 4 squad and the No. 2 versus No. 3 team in a pair of best-of-three series.

The Army Women also drew solid effort from Joanne Bunag and Michelle Carolino, who tossed in nine and eight hits, respectively.

The Patrolers, the last to make the quarters cut, drew a combined 32-point output from Janine Nicole Marciano, Frances Xinia Molina and Thai reinforcement Sangmuang Patcharee but failed to neutralize Army’s vaunted firepower.

The Army Women unloaded 47 kills, nine more than PNP, came through with nine blocks and the same number of aces as against their rivals three and two, respectively.

Daquis, who joined the team late in the elims, also teamed up with veteran setter Cristina Salak for five blocks, helping limit PNP’s spikers, particularly Patcharee, from sustaining their attack.

Salak also produced 32 excellent sets, besting Ana Concepcion’s 14-set effort for PNP, which fell to 2-6 and in danger of missing the semis.

Meanwhile, the PNP-Navy knockout match for the last quarters berth last Friday will be shown on GMA News TV Channel 11 today starting at 1 p.m., according to the organizing Sports Vision. The PNP-Army clash and the Smart-Air Force duel will be aired Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.