Young, tall, and talented, the Generika Lifesavers started their Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Cup campaign right, dousing the seasoned Standard Insurance-Navy Lady Corvettes, 28-26, 26-28, 25-20, 25-19, at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Pulling their offense from their middle hitters Pau Soriano and Lilet Mabbayad, Navy had the Lifesavers on the ropes in the first set. The Lady Corvettes stormed out of a 11-15 hole to eventually claim the lead, 23-20. But Navy collapsed, unable to get a good pass and letting the set go to a deuce. Tied at 26, Shaya Adorador opened the door for the Lifesavers, serving an ace then collapsing the Generika back row with her next serve. With a botched pass, Navy open hitter Acuña struggled and slammed an attack straight to the net, giving Generika the early leg up.
The same turn of events almost happened to Navy in the the second frame, as they found themselves leading 23-20. But veteran Generika setter Rubie De Leon worked her magic, finding an open spot to dump the ball then serving an ace. Generika then reached set point first through solid defense, both on the floor and net. Able to force another deuce, Generika nearly had the frame but faltered in the end, surrendering back-to-back errors and giving Navy their only set win.
The following sets, however, became drubbings, as Generika’s blocking caused all sorts of trouble to Navy’s smaller attackers. Stifled at the net, Navy tried to find other ways around the Generika block but wound up committing errors. The Lifesavers led the third set by as much as seven, 22-15, before running away with the set win. The fourth set was as much of a blowout, with Generika bolting to a 15-7 lead and never looking back.
The Lifesavers poured in 17 service aces to Navy’s 4, and also doled out more blocks, 9-6.
University of Santo Tomas standout Chloe Cortez led five Generika players in double-digits with 17 points. Shaya Adorador tallied 14, Geneveve Casugod added 13, while Wensh Tiu and Ria Meneses had 11 and 10 points, respectively.
“Matangkad talaga yung team ngayon, pero kapaga matangkad, mabagal,” said Generika head coach Francis Vicente, who mentors the tallest team in the league. “Kailangan pa mahubog para bumilis yung transition namin. Darating din kami doon.”
Pau Soriano was the only Navy player who managed double-digits, with 10 markers. Her fellow middle blocker, Lilet Mabbayad added nine points.
Generika (1-0) will next face the Foton Tornadoes (0-1) on Thursday, June 23 at the FilOil Flying V Centre while Navy (0-1) will take on the RC Cola-Army Lady Troopers on Thursday, June 30 at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The Scores:
Generika (3) – Cortez 17, Adorador 14, Casugod 13, Tiu 11, Meneses 10, De Leon 6, Pagdanganan 1, Dacoron 0, Macabalitao 0, Angustia 0, Arado (L), Rivera (L).
Standard Insurance-Navy (1) – Soriano 10, Mabbayad 9, Veronas 8, Sabete 8, Eguia 5, Martinez 5, Madulid 3, Diaz 2, Genido 2, Dela Cruz 0, Serafica 0, Acuna 0, Ticar (L), Fortuno (L).
