Army, Air Force set up Superliga title match
MANILA, Philippines — Generika-Army made quick work of AirAsia, 25-19, 25-23, 25-16, while RC Cola-Air Force scored a scrambling 16-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20, 15-12 triumph over PLDT Home TVolution Sunday night to seal a women’s final duel in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference at Cuneta Astrodome.
It was an anticlimactic romp for the Lady Troopers, who systematically erased the Flying Spikers’ threat with brilliant ball placements and timely attacks.
“It was very simple, we gave the ball to the weakest receiver,” said Generika-Army coach Rico de Guzman. “All we had to do was control (Cha) Cruz, (Stephanie) Mercado and (Aby) Maraño.”
Article continues after this advertisementRC Cola-Air Force relied on seasoned veteran Maika Ortiz at crunchtime to slip past the hard-fighting PLDT Home TVolution squad in a match that took two hours and 13 minutes.
Ortiz fired four of the last six points of her team, all on kills, to preserve the win RC Cola set up by prevailing in the fourth set.
“She (Ortiz) really stood out, she’s tall and she’s powerful so it was really difficult to stop her,” said RC Cola-Air Force coach Clarence Esteban, who admitted that his team struggled through the entire game.
“I told them after we won the fourth set that we might as well win this match,” he added.
It was the first time RC Cola made the finals after finishing last in the last conference.
The championship is set this Saturday, also at Cuneta Astrodome.
Lefty Gonzaga led the Lady Troopers with 14 points, 12 of them through kills, while veteran Mary Jean Balse added 12, most of them through quick kills off Tina Salak’s superb setting.
Salak accounted for 24 excellent sets while her AirAsia counterpart May Macatuno had just six.
Maraño was limited to just seven points, while Cruz could only score five. Mercado topscored with 10.
Ortiz topscored with 17 points, while Iari Yongco added 12. Jennifer Manzano chipped in 11 and Joy Cases 10 for RC Cola-Air Force.
PLDT made the semifinals despite finishing second to last after eliminations.
