The RC Cola-Army remained unbeaten in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Cup, sweeping the Standard Insurance Navy Corvettes 25-23, 25-19, 25-14 at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
Like usual, the veteran Army squad were cold to begin the match, allowing Navy to keep pace. After the second technical timeout of the first set, Army rattled off a 4-0 run for a 20-14 lead and looked to have the set well in hand. However, Navy mustered a late comeback behind solid floor defense and attacking and got to within one, 23-22. After a timeout, Kungfu Reyes’ squad avoided a long deuce thanks to a Rachel Anne Daquis spike followed by a Jona Sabete attack error.
Navy again kept the second set close before collapsing in the later third of te frame. Army stormed off from a 15-16 deficit to grab control, 23-19. Demoralized, Navy could not manage to pass Army’s serves in the third set, allowing the Lady Troopers to quickly finish off the match after taking a 22-9 lead.
“The challenge for us nownis to keep yung kondisyon namin ngayon,” remarked Army head coach Kungfu Reyes. “Ang kondisyon namin ngayon is pang-game na talaga. Ang hirap lang kasi mahaba na naman ang break namin. Sana hindi mawala.”
Recently announced as a part of the PSL All-Star team that will participate in the FIVB Women’s Club World Championships, Jovelyn Gonzaga tallied an all-around line of 13 points, eight digs and eight receptions while Jessie De Leon and Royse Tubino added nine points each.
Pau Soriano led Navy with 11 markers while Divine Eguia pitched in seven points.
Army (3-0) will put their undefeated record on the line on July 12 at the Cuneta Astrodome when thy face the Petron Tri-Activ Spikers (3-0). Navy (0-2) will look for their first win when they face fellow winless team Amy’s Kitchen (0-3) on Sunday at the FilOil Flying V Center.
The Scores
RC Cola (3) – Gonzaga 13, De Leon 9, Tubino 9, Daquis 8, Bunag 6, Carolino 3, Delos Reyes 2, Bautista 1, Gonzales 1, Sabas 1, Salak 0, Agno (L) Siatan-Torres (L)
Standard Insurance (0) – Soriano 11, Eguia 8, Sabete 7, Mabbayad 5, Acuña 3, Serafica 3, Genido 2, Diaz 0, Dela Cruz 0, Martinez 0, Fortuno (L), Ticar (L)
