Air Spikers clinch Final Four berth vs Ateneo

MANILA, Philippines– Air Force finally solved the riddle that is Ateneo, cruising to an emphatic 25-20, 25-22, 25-22 victory Tuesday night to clinch the last Final Four berth in the Shakey’s V-League Season 11 Open Conference before a big crowd at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Putting up a virtual wall at the net, the Air Spikers took the Lady Eagles out of their comfort zone, while relying on Judy Ann Caballejo and Liza de Ramos on attack to prevail in the sudden-death duel.

The win gave the Air Spikers the No. 4 seed in the semifinals, where they will face Army starting Thursday. Second seed PLDT Home Telpad tangles with Cagayan Valley in the other best-of-three semifinal clash.

It was a stunning defeat for the Lady Eagles who came into the game buoyed by a five-game winning streak and looked poised to deliver another spectacular turnaround after their UAAP triumph early this year.

But the Air Spikers had other plans in mind.

With Caballejo and De Ramos getting brilliant sets from Rhea Dimaculangan, the Air Spikers seized control early and delivered a solid defensive effort to dash any hopes of a comeback from the Lady Eagles.

Air Force’s lead hitter Maika Ortiz kept Ateneo’s defense guessing but left Caballejo and De Ramos to take up the cudgels at crucial moments, enabling the Air Spikers to finally move into the next round after losing to Cagayan Valley last Sunday.

Caballejo had 11 points, while de Ramos chipped in 7 matching the output of May Ann Pantino, a prized find from AMA College. Joy Cases also made a solid contribution with six hits.

Averaging close to 27 points in the quarterfinals, Alyssa Valdez had a rare subpar game with 18 points in the face of brilliant blocking by the Air Spikers.

But it was their 34 errors that proved costly for the Lady Eagles who actually kept in step with the Spikers in all skills departments. The Air Spikers, on the other hand, only had 13 miscues.

The Lady Eagles almost snatched the third set, forging a 22-all deadlock.

Dimaculangan scored up front and the Air Spikers wrapped up the win on the Lady Eagles’ back-to-back errors.

Ortiz, who averaged 15.6 points after the quarters, finished with just five hits.

“We know that Maika (Ortiz) is heavily guarded by tall players alike (Alyssa) Valdez and (Amy) Ahomiro, so I told her to go to our open spikers more often,” said Air Force coach Clarence Esteban in Filipino. “Good thing our plan worked.”