NCR thwarts CVI, retains Shakey’s volley crown

MANILA, Philippines - National Capital Region bounced back from a third set setback and withstood Central Visayas’ challenge in the fourth to hack out a 25-18, 25-18, 18-25, 25-22 victory and retain the Shakey’s Girls’ Volleyball League Season 11 Tournament of Champions crown at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium yesterday.

Justine Dorog came away with 18 kills to go with one block while Ma. Lina Isabel Molde made 17 attacks, a block and an ace to spearhead NCR’s assault for a third consecutive championship in the annual event sponsored by Shakey’s.

The Hope Christian-represented NCR quickly made their presence felt and took the first two sets of the best-of-five finale with relative ease.

But they dropped the third and went through the wringer in the fourth before Molde and Dorog bailed them out with pivotal hits to complete their domination of the event organized by Metro Sports.

“Medyo inconsistent pa dahil nga mga bata pa,” said winning coach Jerry Yee after the four-set triumph over the University of San Jose Recoletos crew.

NCR actually missed some of its players in the championship backed by Mikasa, Asics, Tune Hotel, Burlington, BioFresh, Food Health, YSA Botanica and Science Magazine as half of the team played in the NCR Palaro in San Juan on the same day.

The Metro Manilans repeated over CVI. Last year, NCR beat a CVI rival represented by Southwestern U.

“Medyo intimidated sila sa amin, naging factor din yun,” said Yee.

Frances Derder and Mary Dominic Pacres led CVI with 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Earlier, New Zealand recovered from a shaky start to prevail over Western Visayas, 18-25, 26-24, 25-16, and capture third place honors in the event

WVI, represented by Central Philippine U Iloilo, jumped the gun on the Kiwis and seemed to be on their way to a cruise but the guest team fought back, using on its height advantage to turn the tables around and snatch the win.

New Zealand scored 11 points off the block and its towering presence in the net held WVI to just seven kills in the third set.

Analise Vukets posted nine spikes and one block while Kelcy Ballantyne came through with seven kills, two service aces and one block as they powered New Zealand to victory at the close of the five-day event.

Bianca Lizares and Princess Robles paced WVI with nine points apiece.

Hope Christian High advanced to the gold medal match via a 25-19, 25-7 disposal of New Zealand in the morning’s semifinals.

CVI, bannered by the gritty University of San Jose-Recoletos spikers, edged WVI in another three-setter, 25-12, 20-25, 25-17, in the other Final Four match.

NCR swept the Pool A elims by beating Western Visayas, 25-5, 25-21, while Central Visayas dominated Pool B.