PLDT triumphs in thriller

Jaja Santiago receives her finals MVP award as PLDT clinches the Shakey’s V-League Open Conference crown. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

PLDT Home Ultera just won’t go away and die.

Pushed to the edge yet again, the Ultra Fast Hitters fought back to slip past Philippine Army in a five-set thriller, 25-22, 18-25, 24-26, 28-26, 15-13, to capture the Shakey’s V-League Season 12 Open Conference crown Sunday at a jampacked Filoil Flying V Arena.

Alyssa Valdez, Jaja Santiago and Gretchel Soltones came to the rescue in the crucial stretches as the Ultra Fast Hitters survived the gritty Lady Troopers, who came out with a solid defensive show in the do-or-die Game 3.

“We had a hard time and we just kept rallying and rallying,” said PLDT coach Roger Gorayeb. “I told them we can’t let this go because this is our conference.”

Valdez got away with 29 points, including 25 attacks and three aces, to power the Ultra Fast Hitters against an Army side that posted a huge 19 blocks.

“They really defended Alyssa,” Gorayeb said of Valdez, the season MVP who unleashed back-to-back hits that sealed the pulsating fourth set, 28-26, and kept the Ultra Fast Hitters alive after a 1-2 set deficit.

The 6-foot-4 Santiago, who scored the championship point on a power tip, bagged the Finals MVP after another stellar outing of 17 points, built on 11 kills, two blocks and four aces.

Soltones, who finished with a 17-point performance, also scored on crucial attacks in the fourth frame that pushed the Ultra Fast Hitters up, 26-25, before helping the team come back anew from an early 1-4 deficit in the deciding set.

“Jaja played with maturity and Gretchel stepped up,” said Gor-ayeb.

The veterans also delivered with Sue Roces adding nine points—the last on a hit that put them at match point, 14-13— while setter Rubie de Leon had 52 excellent sets for PLDT.

“We worked as a team today,” said Valdez after powering PLDT to a 2-1 series win for its first title in the league.

The Lady Troopers came so close to spoiling the Ultra Fast Hitter’ near-perfect season after taking a 2-1 set lead behind Jovelyn Gonzaga and Dindin Santiago-Manabat.

In the fourth frame, the Lady Troopers looked ready to wrap it up after taking a 23-22 edge, but the Ultra Fast Hitters stole the set with Santiago, Soltones and Valdez firing the team’s last six points.

“I kept telling them, ‘Let’s push this to a fifth set and we can win this,’” said Gorayeb.

The Lady Troopers also held the lead early in the fifth set, 4-1, after opening with two straight blocks on Valdez.

Regrouping quickly, PLDT scored six of the next seven points to wrest the lead, 7-5.

Gonzaga, who paced Army with 19 points, teamed up with Mary Jean Balse to account for 11 of the Lady Troopers’ 19 blocks.

Santiago-Manabat had 17 points and Balse chipped in 13  for the Lady Troopers.

Over a week ago, the Lady Troopers looked poised to pull off an upset after halting the Ultra Fast Hitters’ 10-game winning streak in the series opener, 13-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-22.

But PLDT, behind Valdez and Santiago, came back in Game 2 with a 25-16, 25-22, 19-25, 25-16 decision to level the series.