Jet Spikers sink depleted Water Defenders in four

Games tomorrow

1 p.m. – Sta. Elena vs Air Force (S Turf)

4 p.m. – Iriga vs Baguio (V-League)

6:30 p.m. – Pocari vs NU (V-League)

MANILA, Philippines - Air Force overpowered an Alyssa Valdez-less BaliPure, 25-23, 14-25, 25-19, 25-16, yesterday to gain an early lead in the Shakey’s V-League Season 13 Open Conference at The Arena in San Juan City.

The comebacking Jet Spikers, losing former stalwarts Rhea Dimaculangan and Maika Ortiz, showed up with a gem of a recruit in Dell Palomata, who unleashed a 16-hit game in her first foray in big-time volley to spearhead the Air Force’s charge against the depleted Water Defenders.

The lanky Palomata blasted in 10 attack points and fired five aces while drawing solid backup from the team’s mainstays, including Judy Ann Caballero, who also scored 10 kills for a 13-hit output and May Ann Pantino and Jocemer Tapic, who finished with 10 points apiece.

“I was just motivated to play good by my teammates and coaches,” said Palomata, a former La Salle-Bacolod spiker.

Team captain Wendy Ann Semana, for her part, came through with an impressive game and dished out a season-high 43 excellent sets, more than filling the void left by Dimaculangan.

“We lost a great and big-time player like Rhea (Dimaculangan). Good thing we had a veteran in Semana,” said Jasper Jimenez, the man at helm at Air Force, which took a leave in the league where it all started for a couple of years but stayed in shape by competing in various commercial leagues.

One of the pre-tournament favorites, the Water Defenders rebounded from an opening set setback with an impressive win in the second but simply lacked firepower in the absence of Valdez and Gretchel Soltones.

Team Laoag bounced back from a four-set loss to National U last Saturday with a 25-10, 25-23, 20-25. 25-15 victory over league newcomer Team Iriga in the other match to stay in early contention.

The Power Smashers overpowered the Lady Oragons in the opening frame but barely survived their surprisingly tough rivals playing in a league of this magnitude for the first time in the second set.

The win thus put Air Force in step with opening day winners Pocari Sweat and National U, which beat Team Laoag and University of the Philippines, respectively, in the season-opening conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s and backed by Mikasa and Accel.

Meanwhile, Cignal leaned on Ysay Marasigan and Raymark Woo as it outhit Bounty Fresh in the decider to pull off a 25-18, 23-25, 21-25, 25-20, 15-10 victory and join Instituto Estetico Manila in the early lead in the Spiker’s Turf Season 2 Open Conference.