Smart eases out Army, enters finals

MANILA, Philippines - Smart-Maynilad gained inspiration from the surprise appearance of First Conference MVP Din Din Santiago as it pounded out a 21-25, 25-20, 25-13, 21-25, 15-10 decision over Phl Army to arrange a keenly awaited showdown with Cagayan Province for the Shakey’s V-League Season 10 Open Conference crown at The Arena in San Juan City last night.

The 6-1 Santiago, who led the National U Lady Bulldogs to their first-ever Shakey’s V-League crown last May, stunned everyone by suiting up in the do-or-die Final Four match and unleashed an all too crucial 19-hit game.

More than her firepower, however, Santiago provided the needed defense off the net where she altered a number of Army hitters’ shots with her intimidating presence. She wound up with three blocks.

“We were surprised she was given permission to play because as of last night (Saturday), there was no word yet if she’d play,” said Smart coach Roger Gorayeb in Filipino, referring to NU’s prized hitter.

“Din Din is not only a scoring threat but also a defensive weapon we used to stop Army’s attack. That was really the reason why I wanted her to play for us from the start, her defense,” he added.

The Net Spikers thus clinched a 2-1 Final Four series win over the Army Women to forge a best-of-three championship showdown with the Rising Suns for the season-ending conference crown of the league sponsored by Shakey’s and backed by Mikasa and Accel. Cagayan swept Air Force in two games in their own side of the duel.

Game One of the finals is set tomorrow with Game Two on Sunday. A deciding Game Three, if necessary, is on Oct. 27 either at The Arena in San Juan or at the MOA Arena in Pasay City, according to the organizing Sports Vision.

Ateneo hotshot Alyssa Valdez, Santiago’s fierce rival in the UAAP volley wars, led all hitters with 23 kills for a 24-hit output, scoring all the Net Spikers last six kills that the Army Women failed to stop.

“I told her to just go out and play her game and she did,” said Gorayeb of Valdez.

Jovelyn Gonzaga and Rachel Anne Daquis paced Army with 17 and 12 hits, respectively, but failed to draw solid support from the rest with Dahlia Cruz, who fired eight points in the last two sets to help Army clinch the Game Two win, failing to score in the second and third sets.

Heading to the do-or-die game, Santiago said on her Twitter account, @dindinquicker16: “Sa lahat po ng umaasa na lalaro po ako for “SMART” wag na po kayo umasa di po talaga ako makakalaro. Di po talaga ako pinayagan. (For those expecting I’ll play for Smart, don’t expect anymore because I was not allowed to play.)