UNIVERSITY of the Philippines (UP) dismantled Iriga City, 25-17, 25-17, 25-19, to keep its semifinals hopes alive in the Shakey’s V-League Season 13 Open Conference on Monday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
The Lady Maroons popped out from a lethargic performance in their previous matches and disposed of the Lady Oragons in only 68 minutes with Diana Carlos leading the way with13 points on 10 attacks, two blocks and a service ace.
Setter Mae Basarte made 27 excellent sets for UP which climbed which tied National University at fifth place on a 2-3 win-loss card, half a game behind fourth-running Laoag (3-3).
“The girls executed well,” said UP Head Coach Jerry Yee, who is now focused on their next two matches against NU and Laoag. “NU and Laoag are fighting teams and in our minds, they would be a perfect gauge for out strength.”
Iriga, which was eliminated as early as last Saturday, absorbed its fifth straight loss to be at seventh place with a 1-5 record.
Cignal, meanwhile, edged Instituto Estetico Manila (IEM), 25-13, 34-36, 25-15, 25-17, 19-17, to remain unscathed after four games in the Spikers’ Turf.
The HD Spikers avoided a meltdown against the Volley Masters and needed a crucial service error by IEM’s Warren Pirante and a game-winning spike by Edmar Bonono to survive the two-hour and 14-minute encounter.
“Our momentum in the first three games was so high that we were back to zero and had to struggle,” Cignal Head Coach Macky Carino said. “But we are satisfied enough that we beat a strong team like IEM.”
Cignal moved a win away from sweeping the five-game elimination round but Carino said he is more concerned about the semifinals.
“The sweep is not our priority because all of us go back to zero in the semifinals,” he said.
Isay Marasigan led Cignal’s charge with16 hits highlighted by 14 spikes with eight digs, while Bonono delivered 11 points on eight digs and three blocks with 16 excellent receptions. Setter Vince Mangulabnan had 44 excellent sets.
IEM, on the other hand, took its first loss of the season after four games and slid to solo second place. Greg Dolor led all scorers with 21 points, while Jeffrey Jimenez and Edan Canlas added 18 and 11 points, respectively.
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza