Army outlasts Cagayan in 5

Not even the presence of a couple of touted Thai reinforcements could turn Cagayan Valley’s fortunes around against a resilient Army.

The Lady Troopers continued their mastery of the Lady Rising Suns with a thrilling 25-22, 26-24, 26-28, 23-25, 15-13 victory yesterday to clinch the first finals berth in the Shakey’s

V-League Season 11 Third Conference at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Dindin Santiago fired 20 hits but it was Jovelyn Gonzaga and Nene Bautista who came through with the decisive points in a nip and tuck fifth set, allowing the Lady Troopers to seal their fifth straight win.

The Lady Troopers got their attack going early and found enough firepower when the Lady Rising Suns threatened in a match that lasted two hours and 14 minutes—the longest so far in the tournament.

The Lady Troopers also relied on their solid defense, coming away with 15 blocks, including four from Carmina Aganon and three from Mary Jean Balse.

“We came here prepared because we knew we can’t beat them (Cagayan) without our blocking,” said Army coach Rico de Guzman.

Cagayan finally paraded Saengmuang Patcharee and Amporn Hyapha and the Thais proved good as hyped with 22 points each. The Thais did most of the damage in the second and fourth sets.

But the gritty Lady Troopers managed to find a way to negate their strength as Gonzaga and Bautista stepped up at the right time.

Gonzaga blasted a kill to shatter a 13-all count in the fifth and Bautista beat Cagayan’s Joy Benito in a net joust to seal the win.

Cagayan remained in a tie for second with PLDT with a 2-2 record, making their duel on Sunday a virtual knockout match for the second finals berth.