Generika off to flying start

Games tomorrow (Filoil Flying V Center)

4:15 p.m. – Cocolife vs Cherrylume-UE

6 p.m. – Smart-Army vs Sta. Lucia Realty

MANILA, Philippines — Generika-Ayala gave newcomer United Auctioneers-University of the Philippines (UA-UP) a baptism of fire as it tallied a 25-22, 25-9, 23-25, 25-16 victory to kick off its Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga (PSL) Invitational Conference campaign on a high note last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Lifesavers blew hot and cold in the first three sets before putting their act together in the fourth to dispatch the Lady Maroons in one hour, 44 minutes in the club tourney supported by Isuzu, UCPB Gen and SOGO Hotel with ESPN5, Hyper HD and Aksyon TV as broadcast partners.

They caught fire in the fourth set with a 14-5 start before pulling away with a 22-15 spread, mostly coming from the Lady Maroons’ errors, until Patty Orendain nailed down the game-winning hit.

 Generika-Ayala skipper Angeli Araneta was impressive, unloading 26 points built on 23 kills, two blocks and an ace. Orendain chipped in 18 hits off 16 spikes and a pair of blocks including 20 digs while Ria Meneses added 11 markers.

 “We were able to balance the ‘play-all’ rule in the first two sets but I don’t know what happened to our team in the third set that was our best seven. They did not jell well,” said Generika-Ayala head coach Sherwin Meneses, who was impressed with the performance of libero Kath Arado.

“We still need to improve our blocking because we are not tall enough but our floor defense was good.”

 The Lady Maroons put up a gallant stand despite losing ace hitter Tots Carlos for the rest of the conference due to a shin injury.

Isa Molde led the UP-UA in its first PSL game, finishing with 15 points including 13 digs, while rookie Magsarile had a convincing debut with 11 hits.