Cagayan rises above Ateneo in five sets

INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Their wings may take them high, but not as high as the sun.

Defending their padded turf against the youngsters, the Cagayan Rising Suns dropped the Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles in five sets, 16-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-27, 15-10, in the Shakey’s V-League Open Conference at the Arena in San Juan Thursday evening.

Lady Eagles team captain Alyssa Valdez made an impressive kill in the fifth set but the referee ruled out the attempt giving the Cagayan the victory and an excellent 6-1 record, tied with the PLDT Home Telpad Turbo Boosters and the Philippine Army Lady Troopers.

Ateneo meanwhile dropped, with a 2-5 record for 6th place in the eight-team league.

Cagayan head coach Ernesto Pamilar said that the five-setter was something that should be given effort.

“Those five sets have all been worked hard, every single one,” Pamilar said.

He added that they would always take one game at a time, despite their record going into the quarterfinals.

“We just need to work hard regardless of the standings,” Pamilar said.

With the momentum going their way in the beginning of the final set, the Lady Eagles took an early 3-0 lead but back-to-back hits from Cagayan and a Valdez error put the boards at 5-5.

Cagayan then built a six-point lead in two occasions in the fifth set, 12-6 and 13-7 to show the youngsters who’s boss.

Aiza Maizo paced Cagayan with 17 points with Rosemarie Vargas and Paulina Soriano scoring 12 apiece and captain Angeli Tabaquero adding 11.

Valdez led all scorers with 30 points while her teammate Amy Ahomiro added 18 for the Lady Eagles.

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