Catmon on top

Monday, December 12, 2011

CATMON was erratic but dug deep into their bag of tricks to enter the semifinal round of the Gov. Gwen Garcia Unity Volleyball Cup on top of its bracket, after pulling off a come-from-behind win over Lilo-an, 17-25, 25-19, 25-18.

Lilo-an, paced by Southwestern University stalwarts Fretzie Aligway, Hanzel Bantiles and Nerissa Villanueva, started off strong in the first set, surprising Catmon with a huge lead, 5-12.

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But it seemed Catmon only needed some time to warm up as it retaliated in the second set behind Athena Sucalit and Catherine Marquez to force a deciding set.

In the final set, Catmon did not waste time as it jumped to a 7-1 lead early in the set. However, Lilo-an clawed back into contention and behind the efforts of Aligway and Bantiles, they tied the match at 10 and even snatched the lead, 15-13.

But Lilo-an was silenced for good when Catmon posted a searing 9-0 run behind the serves of Marquez to lead, 22-15. The run was cut short when Sucalit’s reception went out of bounds.

But a handball violation from Liloan got Catmon back on the winning track, 23-17, and they went on to win the match.

Meanwhile, in Bracket A, defending champion Mandaue stamped its class with a 22-25, 25-10, 25-19 win over Talisay.

Mandaue is powered by former RP girls team member Genie Sabas and former RP beach volleyball team mainstay Jusabelle Brillo. Talisay, on the other hand, is manned by national beach volleyball champions Florian Gutierrez and Julette Marikit.

For this Friday’s semifinals, Mandaue will take on Lilo-an, while Catmon will face Talisay.

Yesterday was hounded by default matches, with four teams opting to skip their matches, which were already considered non-bearing.

Giving the reason that their players were not available due to conflicts with school activities were Moalboal, Sta. Fe, Minglanilla and Dalaguete.