PLDT topples Army, wins crown
It was a match that deserves to be replayed and retold to the next generation of volleyball players. In a series filled with highlight moves, PLDT Home Ultera pulled off another dramatic 25-22, 18-25, 24-26, 28-26, 15-13 victory to dethrone Army and capture the Shakey’s V-League Open Conference crown before a huge crowd at The Arena in San Juan.
Alyssa Valdez came through with timely hits in the deciding set while fellow national team mainstay Jaja Santiago produced the championship point as the Ultrafast Hitters survived a tough Lady Troopers side to win their first-ever V-League title.
PLDT won the best-of-three series, 2-1.
“Sinabi ko lang sa kanila na huwag magmadali, huwag pabayaan at huwag ibigay sa Army. Kasi ito na yung chance namin. Huwag na naming pakawalan,” said PLDT Coach Roger Gorayeb after notching his fourth league title.
While it was sweet, as Valdez confessed, the title win will go down as the most anticipated and watched by sports enthusiasts as both teams – led by their marquee players – played their hearts out – coming through with howitzers and chasing loose balls that had their supporters holding their collective breath.
It also capped the dominating show of the team that dropped only one match in 13 matches.
After winning their first 10 games – from the elims to the semis – PLDT dropped the opening game of their title series.
But Valdez and Santiago willed their way, providing the firepower in Game 2 that kept the Ultra Fast Lady Hitters together.
Valdez made up for her early miscues that saw Army taking a 3-0 lead in the fifth with booming spikes that shattered the Army defense be- fore Santiago delivered the coup de grace.
With PLDT ahead 14-13, Army’s Mina Aganon tried to force a deuce with a shot off Santiago and Sue Roces.
Santiago and Roces joined forces in deflecting the shot of the former.
Then in one quick and telling move, Santiago, who will see action for the national team along Valdez in the Southeast Asian Games in Singapore, pushed the ball back into the Lady Troopers area to seal the deal.
Santiago’s winner triggered wild celebrations from PLDT players and majority of a sea of supporters that packed the 5,000-seat venue to the rafters.
The loss was a huge disappointment for Army as it moved two points away from retaining the crown, 23-22, only to collapse – no thanks to Valdez’s back-to-back kills that forced a fifth set.
The loss likewise prevented Army from capturing its third Open Conference title that would have enhanced the team’s status as the most successful club team of the league.
As expected, Valdez led PLDT with 29 points, but it was Santiago who took the Finals MVP. The title was also the third for Valdez in the league.
The 6-foot-4 Santiago tallied 17 markers – the same output produced by Gretchel Soltones.
Charming Jovelyn Gonzaga led Army with 19 points.