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Sandugo turns back Army to sweep V-League first round
InterAKTV/Roy Afable
Sandugo-San Sebastian came out of a grueling five-set thriller over Army with a straight-set romp over Far Eastern U, 25-8, 25-23, 25-13, as it swept the first round elims of the Shakey’s V-League Open at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium yesterday.
Except for a close second set escape, it was smooth sailing for the Lady Stags who dominated the Lady Tams in spikes (43-24), blocks (10-4) and service (4-1) to fashion out the 62-minute victory, their fifth straight in the compact six-team field.
Thais Jeng Bualee and Utaiwan Kaensing, who keyed Sandugo-SSC’s 25-16, 17-25, 17-25, 25-18, 15-10 victory over Army in a duel of unbeaten teams Sunday, combined for 27 hits while Joy Benito and Suzanne Roces backed them up with nine points apiece.
The rather light assignment also enabled coach Roger Gorayeb to rest former MVP Nene Bautista while trying out new combinations he could use in future matches.
While Sandugo-SSC kept its clean slate, FEU remained winless at the close of the elims in the event sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and backed by Mikasa and Accel.
Earlier, Cagayan Valley continued its surge in the Shakey’s V-League Open, overwhelming Philippine Navy, 25-14, 25-14, 25-9, to improve to 3-2.
Coming off a similar three-set win over the Ateneo Lady Eagles last Sunday, the Rising Suns sustained their form and peppered the hapless Lady Sailors with hits from all over with Sandra delos Santos, the league’s scoring leader, spearheading the attack with 19 points.
That included 11 of Cagayan’s 53 kills, more than tripling Navy’s paltry 15-attack effort in the one-hour, 10-minute encounter closing out the first round elims in the mid-season conference organized by Sports Vision.
Honey Tubino fired 12 hits, Joy Cases chipped in 11 points while Thais Sutadta Chuewulim and Kunbang Pornpimol combined for 17 markers for the newcomers, who dropped a pair of five-set setbacks to fancied Sandugo-San Sebastian and defending champion Philippine Army.
Navy, which also came off a five-set victory over Far Eastern U, also last Sunday, struggled all game with Kiteh Rosale managing just seven hits that stood as the team’s best.
Mayi Prochina, which fired 16 hits against FEU, groped for measly three points while Johanna Carpio, Ailene Suson and Janet Serafica each had two points to typify the Lady Sailors’ struggle.
