Lilet Mabbayad punctuated a marvelous performance with a soft touch at the net as Philippine Navy demolished Philippine Coast Guard in straight sets, 25-20, 25-23, 25-21, yesterday in the Shakey’s V-League Season 12-Reinforced Conference.
Stationed at the left flank, Mabbayad’s sneaky final kill left the Coast Guard Lady Dolphins scrambling for the leather that eventually had them falling into a winless pit after two games.
It was the type of breakdown Navy coach Zenaida Chavez doesn’t want to see in their future games.
“We need more improvement on floor defense,” said Chavez after her Lady Sailors notched their first victory following a narrow opening-day setback to the UP Lady Maroons that could had gone either way.
The Lady Sailors allowed the Dolphins to smash them with 22 hits while scoring 42 spikes built around Mabbayad’s 15 kills and Pau Soriano’s 10. Navy setter Janet Serafica dished out 34 excellent sets.
“If you noticed, they (Coast Guard) had a difficult time at the net. But we can’t just allow other teams to make those hits, because our remaining opponents are definitely stronger,” said Chavez.
Mabbayad also had two blocks and scored one of the two service aces that Navy had throughout the one-sided contest. On the other end, the Lady Dolphins had five aces, two of them from skipper Rossan Fajardo.
“I’m not satisfied with the way we serve. We have to work on it, too,” said Chavez.
Fajardo, the lone bright spot for Coast Guard in a bitter defeat against PLDT last week, wasn’t in the groove this time, posting only seven hits out of 44 attempts.
Hyrize Macabuhay backstopped Fajardo with seven points and Samantha Dawson added six for the Dolphins, who found themselves trailing in the first two sets.
In the Spikers’ Turf, Arjay Onia delivered 15 attacks and had two blocks as the Sta. Elena Wrecking Balls subdued PLDT Ultra Fast Hitters, 25-22, 25-21, 14-25, 29-27, to enter the win column following a stinging defeat during the opener last week.