All around UP offense upends Navy, one win away from bronze

The University of the Philippines Lady Maroons relied on the balanced offense of their rookies and veterans to defeat the Philippine Navy Lady Sailors 18-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-10 to take game one of the Shakeys V-League Reinforced Conference’s battle for bronze at the FilOil Flying V Arena, Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Sailors, through Pau Soriano and Lilet Mabbayad, breezed past the Lady Maroons in the first set as the Diliman-based squad committed unnecessary errors. In the following set, the Lady Maroons quickly buried Navy thanks to a 6-1 start propelled by Isa Molde and Justine Dorog. Still, the Lady Sailors, via the efforts of Therese Veronas, Divine Eguia, and Florence Madulid, trimmed the deficit at 8-4. Dorog and Molde once again jumpstarted the UP offense, eventually taking a 20-12 advantage as the Lady Sailors struggled to put themselves back in the set.

The Lady Sailors and Lady Maroons figured in several deadlocks in the third set. Marian Buitre unleashed a quick attack to tie things at 20 and Diana Carlos blocked Madulid for a 21-20 lead. Molde then overcooked her serve for a 21-all deadlock. Dorog scored through the block to put UP in the driver’s seat, 22-21, and Kathy Bersola and Nicole Tiamzon unloaded crucial points for UP in the latter part of the set to fend off Navy.

The Lady Maroons went to business in the fourth set taking a 16-7 lead as the Lady Sailors once again struggled to create momentum in putting themselves back in the set.

“Joining the league is exposure and we just grabbed it. Mahirap kumuha ng ganitong experience na may camera at maraming nanonood. We’re getting our money’s worth, so in the UAAP hopefully there are no more jitters,” Yee added.

Dorog scored 18 points to lead UP and Molde added 17 hits together with eight digs. Bersola and Tiamzon chipped 13 and 10 markers apiece. Jewel Lai tossed 26 excellent sets to orchestrate the UP offense.

Soriano finished with 14 points for Navy, while Mabbayad and Madulid contributed 13 and 10 points respectively.

The Lady Maroons will try to clinch the bronze against the Lady Sailors on game two of their series on December 6 at 12:45 PM in the same venue.

The Scores:

UP (3) – Dorog 18, Molde 17, Bersola 13, Tiamzon 10, Buitre 8, Carlos 3, Chopitea 1, Gannaban 1, Cailing 0, Basarte 0, Lai 0, Gaiser(L)

PHI Navy (1) – Soriano 14, Mabbayad 13, Madulid 10, Eguia 5, Veronas 5, Serafica 3, Diaz 2, Genido 2, Dela Cruz 0, Martinez 0, Desengano 0, Ticar (L), Fortuno (L)