Monday, December 18, 2006 Talisay, lapu assured of semis slots By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Correspondent
TALISAY and Lapu-Lapu cities easily booked themselves semifinals slots in the 2nd Gov. Gwen Garcia Unity Volleyball Cup for Women, but Mandaue City had to bank on plain experience to arrest the younger Catmon's winning run in the quarterfinal round yesterday at the Mandaue City Sports Complex.
Lapu-Lapu and Talisay are already assured of slots to the semifinal round, as both teams are heaped on top of the leaderboard of Pool A.
Mandaue outclassed Catmon in two sets, 25-19, 25-13, for Mandaue to take solo leadership in Pool A with a 4-0 win-loss slate and be assured of a semis slot.
Second spot
Catmon, on the other hand, is relegated to temporary second spot with a 3-1 ledger, putting them at risk to be eliminated as it is tied with last year's finalist Toledo City.
The superior lineup of Mandaue players—mostly varsity members or former collegiate players—was enough to intimidate their younger foes, who admitted that their “fear” led to their failure to put their acts and defenses together.
"They were mostly veterans. We lacked defense and we were no longer communicating," said one of Catmon’s top guns Catherine Marquez.
Winners’ team
Marquez and the bulk of the Catmon squad are part of the team that won the gold in this year's elementary volleyball of the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association and the silver medal in the Palarong Pambansa in Naga City.
Mandaue leaned on University of the Visayas' Arlene Cabaltera, Nestea Beach Volley national finalist Janez Armie Igot and Nestea 3rd placer Ellen Pongasi of the University of Southern Philippines Foundation.
The other game results include Talisay defeating Balamban, 25-8, 25-10, Toledo winning over Medellin, 25-12, 25-18 and Lapu-Lapu trouncing Compostela 25-22, 25-14.
Catmon must win today's game against Toledo in the third game to break the tie so they can snatch the second slot in their bracket and complete the semifinalists lineup.
Lapu-Lapu and Talisay will still take on each other in today's curtain raiser at 7:30 a.m. to determine their ranking. The top two teams in each bracket will advance to the crossover semifinals.
