Army rips CGuard, nears V-League sweep

MANILA, Philippines - Army overcame a fierce third set challenge put up by a gritty Coast Guard and hammered out a 25-4, 25-12, 33-31 victory yesterday to move within a win from sweeping the Shakey’s V-League Season 12-Reinforced Conference elims at The Arena in San Juan.

Former league MVP Jovelyn Gonzaga erupted with a game-best 20 hits, including 17 attack points, while Mary Remy Joy Palma and Honey Royse Tubino combined for 24 markers as the fancied Lady Troopers rolled to their fourth straight victory in the season-ending conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s and presented by PLDT Home Ultera.

What made the win impressive was Army did it without ace setter Tina Salak and hitter Abi Marano, who sat out the game to rest in a game they were heavily favored to win.

But Palma and Tubino stepped up and scored 13 and 11 hits, respectively, while Sarah Jane Gonzales picked up the slack from Salak by producing a career-high 37 excellent sets to clinch the Shakey’s Best Player of the Game honors in the tournament backed by Mikasa and Accel and organized by Sports Vision.

“The whole team stepped up and didn’t lose composure, particularly in the third when we almost lost the set,” said Army coach Kungfu Reyes.

Kia Forte finally nailed the elusive win after dropping its first three matches, holding off a skidding University of the Philippines side, 25-22, 19-25, 25-15, 25-19, to keep its flickering semis hopes alive.

The league newcomers stayed in fifth but could force a tie for the fourth and last semis berth with a victory over PLDT Home Ultera on Saturday.

Carmina Aganon delivered 15 hits, including 13 kills, while Danielle Castañeda, Wenneth Eulalio, Alexa Micek, Angelica Legacion, Alyssa Layug and Faye Guevarra combined for 40 points as Kia Forte neutralized UP’s power game and solid blocking.

Isabel Molde and Diana Carlos came through with 19 and 11 points, respectively, for the Lady Maroons, who fell to their second straight loss after winning their first two, needing to hurdle Army on Saturday to secure the third semis seat.

Earlier, the Lady Troopers stamped their class early by racking up the first 10 points and finished the opening set by holding the Lady Dolphins to a record league low of four hits.

But Coast Guard played tough in the third, forcing Army to blow four match points in the longest set in the conference before Tubino and Palma unloaded back-to-back kills to clinch the win for the Lady Troopers.