Marciano, Maizo lead Cagayan over Air Force in V-League

MANILA, Philippines – Cagayan Valley went to Janine Marciano and Aiza Maizo as it overpowered Air Force, 28-26, 25-20, 25-20, to clinch a spot in the Final Four of the Shakey's V-League Season 11 Open Conference at The Arena in San Juan City on Sunday.

Marciano fueled the offense as she uncorked 17 hits – 15 on kills and two on services – while Maizo served as the backbone of her team's defense by coming through with 13 hits, two of which off the block.

The win forged the Rising Suns, the reigning champions, a three-way logjam for third place with the Air Women and the Ateneo Lady Eagles on 7-5 (win-loss) slates but emerged with the highest tiebreak score to clinch the No. 3 spot in the semis.

There, Cagayan Valley will join Army and PLDT Home Telpad.

"Marciano and Maizo stepped up, they keyed this win," said Cagayan Valley coach Nes Pamilar in Filipino.

The Rising Suns went on a four-game slide to fall from sharing the lead after the elimination round to going on the brink of elimination in the latter part of the quarterfinals.

Cagayan Valley was needing to beat Air Force by just three or four sets to advance since a loss or a five-set win will send it to a knockout showdown with Air Force for the fourth and last semis berth.

Instead, it will be Air Force and a resurgent Ateneo fighting it out to catch the last bus to the Final Four.

"We knew of the urgency to win so we came here to win convincingly and not complicate things anymore," said Pamilar.

Judy Caballejo and Maika Ortiz paced Air Force with 15 hits apiece but none of them found a way to contain Marciano and Maizo.

Cagayan Valley and Air Force were into a dog fight in the opening set but Marciano and Maizo came through when needed to take the set.

Air Force was never the same after it as the Rising Suns took control the rest of the way for the lopsided win.