Lady Agilas upset Lady Bulldogs in four sets

MANILA, Philippines — The Davao Lady Agilas couldn’t have picked a better way to send a chilling message to the rest of the Shakey’s V-League field.

Ranged against defending champion National U, the Lady Agilas continued to boost their stock with a hard-fought 25-20, 30-28, 14-25, 32-30 victory over the Lady Bulldogs Thursday at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

“I can’t describe the feeling we’re having right now. We didn’t expect to beat a former champion of the V-League,” said an ecstatic Davao coach Shane Alagao, whose wards clinched a quarterfinal berth from Group B.

Later, Ateneo walloped St. Louis U, 25-16, 25-18, 25-13, to finish Group A with a 4-1 card like Arellano U.

What made the win even more remarkable for the Lady Agilas was the fact they were playing their third match in five days. Davao surprised Far Eastern U in its debut Sunday, before outlasting Perpetual Help in five sets Tuesday.

The Agilas turned to May Agton, Jocemer Tapic, Venus Flores and Mae Antipuesto, who combined for 66 hits.

Agton drilled home a kill to tie the match at 30 in the fourth set, before Antipuesto put Davao at match point with a block. The Agilas took the win after NU’s Ivy Perez served into the net.

Agton finished with 21 kills, Tapic added 13 points and Flores and Antipuesto combined for 22.