Lady Patriots whitewash Lady Mariners on NCRAA ‘23 semis, advance to finals

The DLSU-D volleybelles, with a twice-to-beat advantage, posted a 28-26, 25-22, and 25-10 victory against the Philippine Merchant Maritime School (PMMS) Lady Mariners in the semifinals round of the National Capital Region Athletic Association (NCRAA) season 23 women’s volleyball tournament held at the PMMS gymnasium yesterday, February 1. The Lady Patriots will vie for the crown against Rizal Technological University in championship game 1 on Wednesday, February 3.

 

Photo by Brandon Ocenar

Dynamic game spirits

Though the green-and-white volleybelles suffered a rough start in the first set, the Patriots managed to tighten the gap and marked four deadlocks, 11-11.

Through Patriots’ short hits, the Lady Mariners strengthened their lead with Clarisse Cabrera’s service ace, Rona Averilla’s block, and Andrea Ramos’ drop, 14-18.

Filled with fervor, Patriots Maribeth Lara, Cherry Nunag, and Iumi Yongco showered kills on the blue-and-white court to trim their deficit, 20-21.

Despite the Lady Mariners’ advantage of being a point away from clinching the set, 22-24, Yongco fired up and buried two consecutive kills to mark the set’s first deuce, 24-all.

After two more deuces, the Patriots capped the first set as Lara launched a finisher kill, 28-26.

Both teams showcased their clever attacks and rock-hard blocks during the second set, setting off a neck-to-neck match; but the Lady Mariners still sat on top with an 8-10 lead.

The Patriot volleybelles recovered from their shortfall and tied the set to 16-all through the blue-and-white errors and through Lara and Mara Galicia’s kills.

 

Photo by Brandon Ocenar

Switching positions, the PMMS squad threw service and hit errors while the Lady Patriots stretched their supremacy and captured the second set, 25-22.

Losing hope, the Lady Mariners began a lethargic third set as they became defenseless from Galicia’s service aces, Nunag’s spikes, and Lara’s kills, 10-5.

Although the Lady Patriots already pulled their lead away through unstoppable hits and blocks, the PMMS squad gained points through Nicole Bañas and Jaynilyn Bañares’ attacks, 22-14.

The Cavite-based quad committed a series of errors that drafted digits to the Lady Mariner’s scorecards, 22-18. However, the Patriots claimed their ticket to the championship as Yongco concluded the match with a drop, 25-20.