FINDING its attacking rhythm early, Cagayan Province walloped a surprisingly listless Army squad, 25-9, 25-16, 25-20, last night to remain as the only unbeaten team in the Shakey’s V-League Season 10 Open Conference.
The Rising Suns drew big games from Thai Kannika Thipachot, Wenneth Eulalio and Angeli Tabaquero in turning an expectedly tight duel into a ghastly rout at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
Already assured of a quarterfinals berth, the Rising Suns refused to pull their punches with Thipachot and Tabaquero taking turns in piercing the Army defense early on.
With the win, the Rising Suns improved to 6-0 and can clinch an elimination-round sweep with a victory over Philippine National Police tomorrow.
Earlier, Philippine Navy finally barged into the win column with a 25-23, 25-23, 25-17 smashing of Far Eastern U.
The veteran tandem of Michelle Laborte and Chris Rosale did most of the damage for the Lady Sailors, finishing with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
The win, fashioned out in an hour and 23 minutes, resuscitated Navy’s hopes of reaching the six-team quarterfinals.
The Lady Tamaraws remained winless in four games, leaving them with no choice but to sweep their remaining games to stand a chance of making the next round.
The towering duo of Laborte and Rosemarie Prochina gave the Lady Tamaraws fits at the net. The battle-tested Laborte and Prochina joined forces for seven blocks.
Geneveve Casugod and Samantha Dawson led the Lady Tamaraws’ losing effort with seven points each.
Efficient on attack, Thipachot tallied a game-high 17 points with 16 coming off kills, while Tabaquero, summoning the form that boosted University of Santo Tomas to several Shakey’s V-League titles a few years ago, wound up with 12 points, 10 off attacks.
With Pau Soriano and Eulalo putting up a virtual wall at the net, the Rising Suns stymied the Armywomen’s vaunted attacking game. Soriano had five blocks, while Eulalio had three.
Thai setter Phomia Soraya was again at the heart of the Rising Suns’ attack, producing 37 excellent sets.
With Ma. Theresa Iratay struggling, the Armywomen could only muster 22 points off kills. Jovelyn Gonzaga was the lone bright spot for Army with 12 points.