The Philippine Women’s National Volleyball Team, though constantly incomplete, dominated their exhibition matches in the 2018 Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga Invitational Cup, sprinting past the Smart-Army Giga Hitters, 25-16, 25-17, 25-1 7, at FilOil Flying V Centre.
Like last Tuesday, only eight Nationals were available in Foton’s Jaja Santiago, Dindin Manabat, Maika Ortiz, and CJ Rosario, Sta. Lucia’s Becca Rivera ans MJ Phillips, Cignal’s Mylene Paat, and Cocolife’s Denden Lazaro. The rest of the pool had a match with their respective club teams on the same game day.
Much of the match easily went towards the National Team’s favor the Santiago sisters and Phillips efficiently disected Smart’s defense.
The National Team’s biggest challenge came in the third set. After giving up consecutive errors and chance balls, Smart surged to a 16-11 lead. The margin, however, was short-lived as the Giga Hitters only managed one more point for the rest of the match.
“Na-challenge talaga kami. Nagising kami noong bigla silang lumamang. Thankfully, nagkaroon ng sense of urgency ‘yung players namin and natapos namin ‘yung laban,” said National Team head coach Shaq Delos Santos.
Santiago finished with 15 points while Paat provided nine markers.
The Nationals will continue their preparation for the Asian Games, where they will make thwur return after a 36-year absence, through a yet-to-be-set overseas training camp on early August.
Nene Bautista topped Smart with eight markers while Lutgarda Malaluan added seven.
The Scores
PWNVT (3) – Santiago 15, Paat 9, Ortiz 7, Phillips 7, Manabat 6, Rosario 5, Rivera 4, Lazaro (L)
Smart (0) – Bautista 8, Malaluan 7, Francisco 4, Gutierrez 4, Pacres 4, Bunag 3, Pabayo 2, Bicar 1, Gonzales 1, Dizon 0, Viray 0, Agno (L)
