The Philippine Coast Guard Lady Dolphins like a diesel-fueled machine took their time to heat before running past the KIA Forte 12-25, 25-22, 25-14, 25-23, 17-15, snagging their first win in the Shakeys V-League Reinforced Conference at the FilOil Flying V Arena, Saturday afternoon.
Carmina Aganon and Alexa Micek led Forte’s domination against the Lady Dolphins in the first set, capitalizing on Philippine Coast Guard’s miscues to take the set. But the Lady Dolphins flipped the script in the second set with Rossan Fajardo and Crystel Rosale, giving Coast Guard a 24-19 lead. Micek trimmed the lead to 24-21 but Fajardo unloaded a quick hit to tie things at one set apiece.
Faye Guevarra, Micek and Aganon conspired in drubbing the Lady Dolphins with a 12-0 lead to the start the third set. The Lady Dolphins struggled get themselves back in the set with errors while timely offense from KIA prevented any comeback attempt.
Both teams traded blows in the fourth set. With the set tied at 19, Aganon and Wenneth Eulalio scored two straight points to give KIA a 21-19 lead which Michelle Manansala and Fajardo quickly answered, knotting the set at 21. Both teams exchanged errors and attacks for a 23 all deadlock which a quick hit from Fajardo broke, pulling Coast Guard to set point, 24-23. A net error from KIA’s Michiko Castaneda dragged the match to a fifth set.
Fajardo led the Lady Dolphins’ hot start in the deciding set with which resulted in a slim 7-4 lead but attacks from Micek, Eulalio and Guevarra put KIA back in the set, tied at seven. Once again both teams exchanged attacks and errors to get to 12-all then errors from the Forte gave Coast Guard the match point at 14-13. Castaneda unleashed a quick hit for a 14-all deadlock then a reception error from Manansala gave KIA the advantage, 15-14. Rosale nabbed a clutch block on Castaneda for a 16-all deadlock. KIA finally committed two costly attack errors that gave the Lady Dolphins its first win.
After the game Coast Guard Head Coach Butch Ordon said the victory against KIA boosted their confidence after being winless in their three previous outings.
“Tumaas ang moral namin, this is our ultimate challenge lalo parehas kami nang KIA na walang panalo. Lahat kami gigil manalo. This is a start for a new Coast Guard,’’ Ordon said.
Fajardo topscored the Lady Dolphins with 18 points, 17 markers coming from attacks while Rosale chipped in 15 points.
Castaneda and Aganon combined for 30 hits for KIA while Micek contributed 14 points and setter Angelica Legacion tossed 33 excellent sets.
The Lady Dolphins (1-3) will next face the Philippine Army Lady Troopers (2-0) on November 8 at 12:45 PM while the KIA’s (0-3) next assignment is the University of Philippines Lady Maroons (2-1) at 3:00 PM at the same day in the same venue.
The Scores:
PHI Coast Guard (3) – Fajardo 18, Rosale 15, Dawson 9, Manansala 8, Macabuhay 4, Ogana 1, Valencia 0, Serrato 0, Ponon 0, Clarete 0, Acepcion (L)
KIA (2) – Aganon 15, Castaneda 15, Micek 14, Eulalio 10, Guevarra 8, Legacion 5, Layug 3, Pineda 1,Tabaquero 1, Saet 0, Reyes (L), Cui (L)
