Army trims Cagayan, closes in on V-L plum

Games Sunday

12:45 p.m. – PLDT vs Air Force

2:45 p.m. – Army vs Cagayan Valley

MANILA, Philippines - Army turned its projected fierce duel with Cagayan Valley into a showcase of its power game and defense, fashioning out a four-set romp capped by holding the Rising Suns to a record-low output in the fourth as the Lady Troopers moved within a win from sweeping the Shakey’s V-League Season 11 Open Conference crown before a big Thursday crowd at The Arena in San Juan.

Jovelyn Gonzaga, MVP Rachel Ann Daquis, MJ Balse and Nerissa Bautista took turns blasting in smashes after smashes into the Rising Suns fort in an awesome display of power in the fourth frame en route to an emphatic 25-19, 18-25, 25-18, 25-5 victory in the opener of their best-of-three title series in the mid-season conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s.

With their offense in full throttle, the Lady Troopers proved as unforgiving in defense, foiling the Rising Suns’ series of attempts with superb reception and terrific blocking that saw them take the last set in just 18 minutes.

“Receive, block and defense – those were the things I told my players to remember,” said Army coach Rico de Guzman, whose wards produced a finals high 14 blocks, including six from the southpaw Gonzaga.

Army, which ruled the inaugural staging of the Open conference backed by Mikasa and Accel in 2011, goes for the clincher in Game Two on Sunday.

A Game Three, if necessary, will be played on Sept. 7.

Bracing for a dogfight, the Lady Troopers found the going a little bit tougher only in the second frame when they slackened off in defense.

But after some adjustments, the Lady Troopers were back in their fierce form, winning the third handily before holding the defending champions to just five points, which was an all-time league low in a championship game.

Earlier, Air Force bucked the absence of coach Clarence Esteban and a first set defeat as it carved out a 16-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-12 victory over PLDT Home TelPad to likewise move a win away from clinching third place honors.

Maika Ortiz led the attack with 19 hits while Joy Cases, Judy Caballejo and Iari Yongco scattered 16, 15 and 11, respectively to help seal the win for Air Spikers, who responded well to Jessie Sison, who took over from Esteban.

In her second stint with PLDT Home Telpad, former scoring leader Dindin Santiago delivered 16 hits but failed to draw solid support from the team’s regular hitters with former MVP Sue Roces scoring just 10 points and Gretchel Soltones adding nine markers.