Turbo Boosters wrest lead: Rising Suns shock Troopers

Games Sunday

2 p.m. – UP vs Cagayan

4 p.m. – Ateneo vs National U

MANILA, Philippines - Cagayan Valley succeeded where five other teams had failed, stopping Army, 27-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-22, to make the race for the top spot wide open in the Shakey’s V-League Season II Open Conference at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

The Rising Suns rallied from behind to snatch the opening set, dropped the second but rebounded with gutsy stand in the next two to hack out the thrilling victory in one-hour and 49 minutes of power game, quick plays, power tips and spectacular blocks.

In the end, Cagayan came out the victor, thus preserving its record 16-0 sweep in winning this event last season. It also boosted its bid for the top spot with a 4-1 card while enabling newcomer PLDT Home Telpad to seize the solo lead with a 6-1 slate following its 25-15, 26-24, 25-22 victory over Air Force in the first game.

Aiza Maizo rammed in 22 hits and Janine Marciano backed her up with 18 as the defending champions frustrated the Lady Troopers with their superb all-around game. Cagayan outhit Army, 55-53, came away with 10 blocks against the Lady Troopers’ nine but made just six aces against their rivals’ nine.

Rachel Ann Daquis, Nene Bautista and Jovelyn Gonzaga played true to form and combined for 49 hits for Army but the Lady Troopers just couldn’t shake off the Rising Suns in the pressure-packed endgame of the last two sets.

Army dropped to second with a 5-1 mark but still has a chance to tie PLDT Home Telpad for the top spot with a win over Ateneo next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the PLDT Home Telpad-Air Force duel, and the Army-Cagayan Valley face-off will be shown on GMA News TV Channel starting at 1 p.m. today, according to the organizing Sports Vision.

Earlier, PLDT Home Telpad survived Air Force’s fightbacks in the last two sets to pound out a three-set win and prime itself up for the quarterfinal grind of the mid-season conference sponsored by Shakey’s.

After playing backup to former MVP Suzanne Roces majority of the elims, Gretchel Soltones took the lead role, blasting the Raiders with 18 kills for a topscoring 19-hit output. Laurence Ann Latigay complemented Soltones’ power game on the other side with a 13-attack performance while Roces turned in a steady game of 15 hits, including two blocks.

After an opening set cruise, the Turbo Chargers found the going tough in the second frame, needing an extra point to thwart the stubborn Raiders then held on in the third to complete the sweep in one-hour, 20 minutes.

The league’s newcomers thus closed out their elims campaign with an impressive 6-1 record, losing only to unbeaten Army. They, however, hope to further raise the level of their game in the next phase with ace hitter Dindin Santiago expected to join the team.