Customs outlasts BaliPure, gains V-L finals

MANILA, Philippines – Thai Kanjana Kuthaisong and Alyssa Valdez struck back in the clutch as Customs wore down BaliPure in the fifth set to hack out a 25-21, 25-16, 24-26, 8-25, 15-8 victory last night and seal a showdown with Pocari Sweat for the Shakey’s V-League Season 13 Reinforced Conference crown at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.

Kuthaisong and Valdez hammered in three kills each in a fiery Customs start in the decider, giving the Transformers 7-2 and 11-3 leads before Rose Marie Vargas and Lilet Mabbayad took over to finish off the Water Defenders in Game 3 of their semis duel and clinch the other finals seat.

Just as the Water Defenders thought they had heard the last of the Transformers after bouncing back strong from two sets down with a sweep of the next two, including an imposing romp in the fourth, the latter came out smoking in the fifth as Kuthaisong and Valdez fired away stinging spikes that pierced through BaliPure’s defenses.

BaliPure fought back last at 7-12 before Vargas came through with a down-the-line hit and Mabbayad blasted in a kill that ended a long rally, the set and the match that lined up the Transformers against the Lady Warriors.

Pocari Sweat and Customs begin their title duel, also a best-of-three on Saturday with the Lady Warriors seeking a second straight championship after ruling the Open Conference on its very first try early in the season.

Earlier, Air Force outduelled Cignal in a thrilling decider, turning what could’ve been a harrowing meltdown into a big triumph, 23-25, 19-25, 25-19, 27-25, 15-12, yesterday to move within a win of nailing the Spikers’ Turf Season 2 Reinforced Conference plum.

The Air Spikers put their act together in the fifth as Bryan Bagunas, Mark Alfafara, Reyson Fuentes, Howard Mojica, Jeffrey Malabanan and setter Jessie Lopez combined for one big play after another to finally check their skid and clinch the win to go 1-up in their best-of-three series.

It was a big rebound for Air Force, which appeared headed for a romp after sweeping the first two sets, only to crumble in the face of the defending champion HD Spikers’ strong fightback in the next two frames.

But Bagunas, Alfafara, Fuentes, Mojica and Malabanan came through with big hits, big blocks and big saves to pull off the two-hour victory in a match that featured a number of vicious kills and awesome blocking, moving the Air Spikers into the threshold of another title romp after beating the same Cignal squad for the Open Conference crown early this year.

Lopez actually took the blame for their collapse, saying: “I lost control of myself and my game when I started focusing more on my teammates’ errors than on bringing them back together.”

“Luckily, I was able to do that when it mattered most. This is another learning experience for us,” added Lopez, who produced all but three of the team’s 61 excellent sets.

Bagunas sizzled with 24 hits, including 19 kills, while Alfafara had 16 markers, Fuentes chipped in 15 points and Mojica and Malabanan added 12 hits apiece for Air Force.