Shakey’s V-League Open: NU, Ateneo victorious; Alyssa Valdez celebrates birthday with fans

GAMES ON TUESDAY (July 1st) at the San Juan Arena:

2:00PM – Philippine Army vs. University of the Philippines

4:00PM – Philippine National Police vs. Philippine Air Force

THE ARENA, San Juan City—After what seemed to be an excruciatingly long wait of merely thirty five days, volleyball fans came in throngs anew—some falling in line as early as 8:00AM for tickets that would be made available three hours later—as the second conference of the eleventh season of the Shakey’s V-League unfurled and with it a surprise celebration that surprised both the celebrant and the near-capacity crowd here.

Reigning UAAP MVP Alyssa Valdez turned twenty one on the opener of the league’s fourth instalment of the Open Conference and league officials suggested to throw her a surprise upon her arrival prior to Ateneo de Manila University’s tiff against the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the second game of the scheduled opening double-header. What was plotted as a simple plan to allow the fans of “The Phenom” to present their gifts to her turned out to be an impromptu shindig where the thousands in attendance were treated to a true exchange of love and respect between both Valdez’s rabid supporters and the birthday girl herself—which happened in between the two tiffs line-up for the opening day.

I will write separately about the details of the spontaneous undertaking—and my small role in it—on a separate piece, but needless to say: the bond between Valdez and her legions of followers became even stronger after that ten minute interaction (captured by many camera-toting spectators and released almost instantly on social media sites everywhere). It was one for the books.

On the volleyball front, the return of the University of the Philippines (UP) Lady Maroons to the league to many aficionados appeared as the return of the not-so-prodigal child. After all, UP last saw action in 2011 and had not enjoyed any form of success in their recent sorties in country’s premier women’s volleyball league. However, with only one remnant of its last stint in its present roster, the Lady Maroons gathered wuite a number of believers; especially after being the catalyst to the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws missing the Final Four bus in the last UAAP with what was then deemed as an upset win.

Today, UP has a line-up and brain trust that can make upsets more common. The first conference runners-up National University (NU) was immediately tested by the new look Dilimanians.

The Lady Bulldogs came into their first contest since the graduation of Mina Aganon, Kuki Salibad and two-time league MVP Din-Din Santiago and were under fire in the first set against UP; led by its new offensive threat Nicole Tiamzon, who relinquished her role as the team’s playmaker to her natural position of open-spiker. Rookie Jewel Lai out of Hope Christian High School assumed Tiamzon’s old gig.

ALSO READ: Wade follows James by opting for free agency

Tiamzon—along with reigning UAAP Best Blocker Kathy Bersola—had a quick and lethal impact in the first set as NU appeared to look lost without the services of three of its regular starters (Santiago, Aganon and utility-spiker Aiko Urdas who is out for the season due to an ACL tear). Tiamzon scored most her fourteen total points in the opening set as UP prevailed 25-18—much to the delight of the pro-Ateneo fans who cheered unabashedly for their underdog neighboring school.

NU quickly regrouped, though, and went on to claim the next three sets—but not without a heady stand from the inspired Lady Maroons.

6’6” sophomore Jaja Santiago—now the primary weapon of the rebuilding Lady Bulldogs—used her length to her advantage and finished with a game-high 21 markers, backstopped by veteran opener Myla Pablo’s fourteen points. There was also a silver lining for NU Head Coach Dong de la Cruz as newly anointed starting quicker Desiree Dadang and freshman winger Jorelle Singh also had impressive showings as both added ten points apiece to the Lady Bulldogs’ triumph for a final score line of 18-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-23.

NU now takes a hiatus of nearly two weeks before it locks horns with idle Philippine Army on July 10th while it will be the Lady Maroons who will be the Lady Troopers’ opening assignment this Tuesday (July 1st).

After the proverbial smoke cleared from the Valdez bash, the Lady Eagles took to the court against a revamped PNP squad.

The Lady Patrollers only had six members of its original roster from the last Open Conference and were missing the services of national team veteran Michelle Datuin who was in transit after seeing action for Cignal HD in the recently concluded Cagayan Friendship Games (CFG). With only libero Justyne Tadeo, reserve spikers Kristine Dave, Aidie Castro, back-up setter Veronica Concepcion and main offensive gun Frances Molina in harness from the old team, new PNP Head Coach Manuel Gaerlan paraded a phalanx of seasoned warriors from tournaments past in Arellano University’s Diane Ticar (starting setter), FEU’s Maricor Martinez, the University of the East’s Gecca Perez and unheralded but effective Tine Maderazo of the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP).

ALSO READ: NCAA Season 90: Will history be made?

It was Ateneo, however, that showed their fangs early as the Lady Eagles bucked an early exit from the first conference to come out blazing in their first competitive match since early May.

Valdez scored nine of her game-high nineteen points in the first set, while sophomore Mitch Morente took over in the latter two sets as Ateneo—along with their always animated coach Anusorn “Tai” Bundit—blasted the Lady Patrollers in straight sets 25-15, 25-12, 25-21 to get off to a rousing start in their mission of redemption.

So hot out of the gates were the Lady Eagles that Bundit was able to give audiences a glimpse of some of his future stars.

Bea de Leon—the six-foot alum from Poveda High School (one of four freshmen in the roster) got the start and made an immediate impact with her height and quickness. Off the bench came Karen Derder (formerly of Southwestern University High School and saw action briefly for the Lady Cobras in the first conference), Maddie Madayag (another six-foor blue-chip recruit out of Davao Christian High School) and Therese Gaston, who is the daughter of former Ateneo basketball star Matthew “Fritz” Gaston—who is now with the Games and Amusements Board (GAB). These four along with Filipino-American setter Jamie Lavitoria are deemed by many fans to be “The Next Fab Five”—in reference to the quintet of Ailysse Nacachi, Fille Cainglet, Jem Ferrer, Dzi Gervacio and Gretchen Ho, who took the collegiate volleyball world by storm during their entry prior to the 2008 UAAP season.

ALSO READ: Though underdogs, Guiao likes his team's chances

Whether or not this version sees more action in the coming games remains to be seen, but the initial performances of de Leon and Madayag (the duo who saw the most minutes) has social media pumped-up. Ateneo’s next encounter will be on Sunday (July 6th) as they take on a familiar foe in PLDT Home Telpad coached by former Lady Eagles mentor Roger Gorayeb and two former Ateneo skippers in Ferrer—a former league Finals MVP—and Charo Soriano—who was at the helm when Ateneo won its first ever league title in 2011. Her wards then already included Valdez, Aerieal Patnongon, Ella de Jesus, and libero Den-Den Lazaro.

Speaking of Lazaro, she briefly trending on social media during the match.

I was working the games as a broadcaster along with analyst Anne Remulla-Canda when sometime during the second Lazaro chased a sharp serve by Molina an inadvertently sent it back to the Lady Patrollers’ side of the court. No PNP player was able to retrieve it and it dropped for a score. I announced that Lazaro had scored—which is a very rare feat for a libero to accomplish. Instantly, social media circles went ballistic and she trended.

I learned afterwards, however, that the alleged “offensive-dig-pass” executed by Lazaro (and perhaps one of the only ways a libero can score) was determined by league statisticians as a return that was actually tracked down but not recovered. Hence it was proclaimed as a “dig error” and the point was not awarded to the reigning UAAP Best Digger and Best Receiver—much to the chagrin of her multitude of fans.

PNP will next tackle newly crowned back-to-back CFG queens (and defending Open Conference titlists) Cagayan Valley—this time devoid of foreign players (at least as of the recent roster submission)—on Thursday, July 3rd.

I’ve been told the maximum this edition of the Open Conference will go is September 7th (reportedly Game 3 of the Finals). That’s a lot of volleyball, and the league is on three days a week. That’s really a lot of volleyball.

ALSO READ: Feijen claims World 9 Ball crown as Pinoy Haya falls short

So for those Shakey’s V-League fans that felt they were going on cold turkey during the 35-day break, welcome back. It’s also great to be back on air and great to be broadcasting the game we all love again. So, here we go. #ItsForTheFans

BOXSCORES:

National University def. University of the Philippines – 18-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-23

NU—J. Santiago 21, Pablo 14, Dadang 10, Singh 10, Mandapat 9, I. Perez 8, General (L) 0, Soliven 0.

UP—Bersola 17, Tiamzon 14, Ilustre 8, Layug 6, Sandoval 6, Mo. Ortiz 3, Araneta 2, Lai 2, Estrañero (L) 0, Buitre 0, Ong 0.

Ateneo de Manila University def. Philippine National Police – 25-15, 25-12, 25-21

AdMU—Valdez 19, Morente 13, Ahomiro 8, Gequillana 7, Morado 5, B. de Leon 4, Patnongon 2, Madayag 1, Gaston 1, Lazaro (L) 0, Derder 0, Tan 0.

PNP—Molina 12, Maderazo 6, Martinez 5, G. Perez 3, Dave 2, Tadeo (L) 0, Saligao 0, Ticar 0, Concepcion 0, Gallano 0.

Follow Noel Zarate on Twitter (@NoelZarate) and email sportztackle@yahoo.com