Monday, May 19, 2008 Running on empty By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
THE University of San Jose-Recoletos (SJ-R) Spiking Lady Jaguars squandered the chance to move to the semifinal round of the Shakey’s V-League after losing to fellow wildcard team University of St. La Salle (USLS) in four sets in their final match of the quarterfinal round yesterday at the Arena in San Juan.
After three weeks of staying in Manila, waiting for the time to grab a very elusive slot to the semifinal round, USJ-R will go home empty-handed.
Had USJ-R won, it would have arranged a play-off with current second placer Lyceum of the Philippines University by virtue of the league’s 3-of-5 incentive rule. This rule gives the team that wins three of its five games in the quarterfinals a chance to still make it to the semis against the second placer.
“It was very disappointing. I think the jitters got the most of them and they were not able to perform well. We could have beaten USLS,” said head coach Grace Antigua.
USLS claimed the first set, 25-23, but USJ-R came blazing in the next set, 25-23, to level the playing field at one set apiece. Their comeback as due to the hard work of Julette Mae Marikit, the team’s powerful front-liner.
However, Marikit suffered injuries at the worst possible time and had to be benched for the rest of the game.
“Nawagtangan silag gana sa third and fourth set pagka injured ni Ikit (Marikit). They lost their blocking and defense,” said Norvie Labuga.
Crowd favorite
USLS claimed the next two sets, 25-11, 25-13, sealing USJ-R’s fate. Both USJ-R and USLS, who were guest teams in the competition, bid the tournament goodbye with identical 2-3 records.
With this, Lyceum, which holds a 4-1 win-loss ledger, will move to the semifinals along with quarterfinal round top team Ateneo de Manila University, which finished the round with a 5-0 record.
All however, is not lost for USJ-R as its players were given much-needed exposure and their talents recognized on a national scale. Michelle Simbajon, the former RP youth team member, was an attention grabber and became an instant crowd and camera-favorite. She was also featured in a major daily and a discussion about her was started among the volleyball enthusiasts online.
Apart from this, Simbajon is also in the boards and is in the Top 5 for the Best Setter diadem. Her fellow ex-RP girls team member, Genie Sabas, is one of the best blockers of the quarterfinal round and currently placed second to a USLS player.
Collectively, USJ-R scored 29 successful blocks in four games. Sabas is also the player to have contributed the most number of points for USJ-R the entire tournament.
Avegail Getuaban, on the other hand, steadily kept pace and remained on top of the Best Attackers list, while Aina Laroga showcased her form from the service area, scoring six aces the entire competition. She is tied for the Best Attacker award with Kay Aplasca of USLS.
USJ-R’s libero, Gwendolyn Gutang, stamped her mark when she fearlessly faced head on, Ateneo’s Thai import’s kills. She is currently second place in the best digger list.
