Lady Troopers mow down Maroons; Raiders pull thru

MANILA, Philippines - Army lived up to the hype and trounced University of the Philippines, 25-18, 25-13, 25-17, to join idle Ateneo and National U in the early lead in the Shakey’s V-League Season 11 Open Conference at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

The Lady Troopers overpowered the Lady Maroons behind their fancied stars as they wrapped up the win in just 64 minutes. Rachel Ann Daquis and Jovelyn Gonzaga, who helped steer Far Eastern U to its first championship in the First Conference, fired 14 and 10 hits, respectively, while former MVP Mary Jane Balse flashed vintage form and delivered 13 markers.

Six others scored for Army, one of the three fancied teams in the league sponsored by Shakey’s and where it all started. Nene Bautista, another former MVP, added nine hits while Ginie Sabas chipped in six points.

Philippine Air Force, behind Judy Caballejo, Maika Ortiz and Iari Yongco, matched Army’s straight-set win later in the day, beating Philippine National Police, 25-22, 25-23, 25-8, to force a four-way tie for the lead.

Caballejo uncorked an 11-attack game and finished with 12 hits while Ortiz and Yongco tossed in 10 markers each for the Air Force Raiders, dragged into a close battle by the Lady Patrollers in the first two sets but cruised to victory in the third.

Joy Cases added eight hits while Jocie Tapic and setter Rhea Dimaculangan each had five points for Air Force, which outhit PNP, 39-25, with Dimaculangan producing all but two of the team’s 25 excellent sets as against PNP’s measly eight, including five from Diane Ticar.

Frances Molina actually unleashed a game-high 17-point output and Christine Maderazo added 10 makers for the Patrollers, who lost steam in the end after battling the Raiders into a fierce battle in the first two sets. PNP joined UP in the cellar.

The Lady Maroons, who dragged the Lady Bulldogs in a four-setter in last Sunday’s inaugurals of the league’s mid-season conference, fell to 0-2.

Katherine Bersola, who fired 17 points against NU, was held to 11 while Nicole Tiamzon, who scored 14 markers the first time out, was limited to just six for the Lady Maroons, who struggled for just 21 kills against the Lady Troopers’ whopping 47 attacks.

Army also flourished off the serve, scoring eight, including three from Balse and two from Daquis while ace setter Tina Salak dished off 15 excellent sets for help steer the Troopers to the straight-set win in the conference backed by Mikasa and Accel.

Salak also tossed in four hits, so did Jacqueline Alarca while Dahlia Cruz and Sarah Gonzales each had one point while subbing in the second set and playing through the third frame.

Pauline Araneta had eight markers for UP, now hard-pressed to snap a skid while bracing for a tough outing in its third straight game, this time against a debuting but early favorite PLDT Home Telpad side tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the Army-UP clash will be shown on GMA News TV Channel today starting at 1 p.m. with the Air Force-PNP duel to be aired tomorrow, according to the organizing Sports Vision.