Shakey’s V-League; Lady Cobras take 2-hr thriller vs Navs

MANILA, Philippines - Southwestern U of Cebu hacked out a thriller of a five-setter against a debuting St. Louis U of Baguio, scoring a 25-20, 23-25, 25-15, 21-25, 19-17, victory to join Ateneo in the early Group A lead in the Shakey’s V-League Season 11 First Conference at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Guest player Lutgarda Malaluan punched in two crucial hits – a block off Krissian Tsuchiya and a drop shot that the Lady Navigators overlooked, ending the two-hour, one-minute encounter marked by a back-and-forth fifth set.

The Lady Navigators fought back from 17-19 down to steal the fourth, but blew a chance to snatch the match after reaching the hill, 14-12. The Lady Cobras took the next two points, trailed again at 15-16 but took four of the next five points to clinch the hard-earned win in the event sponsored by Shakey’s and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Akari.

Neresa Villanueva finished with just seven points but took the best player of the game honors with 26 excellent sets, outshining SLU counterpart Elaine Joy Daniel, who wound up with 11.

Malaluan finished with 15 points while Marlyn Llagoso came away with 19 hits, including 10 kills and eight blocks, and Sheena Quino and Janelle Cabahug each put up 12 hits for the Lady Cobras, who are out to atone for their forgettable last-place finish the last time they saw action here in 2012.

“We’re happy with the win considering that we have only two veterans left in the team,” said SWU coach Jordan Paca in Pilipino, referring to Llagoso and Villanueva. “I’m just glad the younger players rose to the challenge.”

In the other game, Far Eastern U pounced on the sidelining of Gretchel Soltones as it turned back San Sebastian, 25-21, 20-25, 25-11, 25-20, to likewise join opening day winner National U in Group B.

Bernadette Pons unloaded 21 hits while Mary Remy Joy Palma and guest player Toni Rose Basas added 15 and 11 points, respectively, to propel the Lady Tamaraws to the victory.

Soltones paced the Lady Stags, whose coach Roger Gorayeb has been promoted to athletic director of San Sebastian, with 17 hits but sustained a left ankle injury in the middle of the fourth set.

Janelle Cabahug, Sheena Quino and Loida Abellana combined for 32 hits, including key points in the first and third sets.

It was sorry setback for the Lady Navigators, who looked headed for a big reversal when it went ahead at 14-12 in the fifth.          – Joey Villar

Tsuchiya put in a game-high 26 hits, including 22 attacks, but wavered in the end, while Colleen Rossi and Roxanne Almonte added 13 and 10 points, respectively, for SLU, which also drew nine markers from Daniel and seven from Florence Madulid.

SWU outhit SLU, 54-47, and had more blocks, 16-9, but the Lady Cobras just couldn’t finish off the Navigators, who kept on charging back from a big deficit, 8-14, in the fourth to stay alive.

The SWU-SLU match will be shown on GMA News TV starting at 1 p.m. today with the Far Eastern U-San Sebastian College duel, being played at presstime, to be aired tomorrow, according to the organizing Sports Vision.