Cagayan, PLDT forge title duel

CAGAYAN Valley and PLDT both rallied from a set down against separate opponents yesterday to arrange a championship showdown in the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Marck Espejo, the UAAP MVP, rammed in 26 points as the Rising Suns bucked another tough challenge from Air Force with a 27-29, 25-22, 25-22, 25-21 decision and secured a slot in the Finals by improving to 2-0 in the semifinals.

The Ultra Fast Spikers also survived a rough start against Cignal, hacking out an 18-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-11 win to likewise stay unbeaten in two games in the single-round Final Four.

Mark Alfafara got away with 17 points and Howard Mojica added 14 for the Ultra Fast Spikers, who also made the most out of their advantage on net defense by posting 15 blocks against the HD Spikers’ seven.

The Rising Suns pulled off the victory even as the Airmen came out relentless on attacks for a 62-48 advantage.

But the Airmen hastened their downfall with 29 errors that helped the Rising Suns slipped past them by no more than four points in the last three sets.

Espejo scored 19 off kills and also tallied six of the Rising Sun’s impressive 18 blocks.

Peter Torres also had five swats in a 15-point outing for Cagayan, while Jan Paglinawan fired all but one of his 11 points off spikes.

PLDT and Cagayan Valley tangle on the last day of the semifinals tomorrow in a no-bearing match  although  both squads are expected to go for a  win to achieve momentum heading into the title match.