THE TEAMS of Political Science (PolSci), Journalism, Literature, Economics, Communication Arts (CA), and English Language Studies (ELS) snatched their victories in the elimination round of Arcade: AB Sportsfest 2016 mixed volleyball tournament.
PolSci, Economics, CA, and ELS recorded a 1-0 win, while Journalism and Literature both earned a 1-1 standing.
PolSci’s road to victory over Legal Management (LegMa) proved to be a bumpy ride as LegMa had the upper hand in the early minutes of the first set, thanks to the seething offenses of Wayne Parulan, until LegMa’s offense and defense started to crumble.
PolSci capped the first set, matching LegMa’s attacks and minimizing their errors, 31-29.
PolSci’s supremacy became more evident as the lanky Judenn Mascareñas unleashed piercing spikes and Mascareñas, who scored nine points in the second set, ushered their team in beating LegMa, 25-22.
Snatching a straight set win of 25-9 and 27-25, Journalism outplayed Asian Studies (ASN), with the latter relying on the former’s reception and service errors during the first set.
ASN battled it out during the second set, enabling them to tie the score at 23, but still conceded defeat to Journalism.
But the journos bowed down to Economics’ firm floor defense and accurate attacks, 20-25 and 11-25. The power-hitting duo of Jayson Lumapas and Jose Mari Sanga’s barrage of service aces and crosscourt spikes tore the momentum set by the Julienne Faye Depante and Carlo Casingcasing-led Journalism team.
The combined efforts of Lumapas, Sanga, Marion Manuel, and Gabriel Magno contributed to Economics’ exceptional play. Journalism hardly mounted a comeback as Economics drilled in spike after spike, creating a 14-to-nothing run.
Moreover, ELS edged out Behavioral Science (BES) in a thrilling three-set matchup, 21-25, 25-12, 25-22.
With the triumvirate of Scott Subiere, Miguel Tan, and Jem Gutierrez dominating the floor, BES managed to deflect the explosive attacks of ELS. BES earned the first set with a five-point advantage.
But the duo of Karlo Quimora and Ryoma Tamayo took advantage of BES’ sloppy reception and gave their team a boost to gain the advantage at 19-10. Tamayo stunned BES as he powered back-to-back service aces in the second set, enabling the play to extend to another round.
Eager to qualify for the league’s semi-finals with their record untainted, both teams tussled back and forth during the deciding set but it was ELS who emerged as victor. ELS exhibited an early 11-4 advantage which later swelled into 21-14.
Nevertheless, BES’ Tan and Subiere lifted their teammates’ spirits after rallying attacks. With only a three-point deficit to fill, BES surrendered the game to ELS.
Literature outwitted the male-dominated Philosophy team during their first game 25-14, 19-25, 25-19 but succumbed to last year’s defending champion Communication Arts in a straight set matchup, 16-25 and 12-25.
In the opening set, the cheerful and energetic Kassie Gormley showed her stellar abilities after firing consecutive service aces, creating a 5-0 run early in the game. Literature penetrated Philosophy’s defense and secured a first set advantage.
But Philosophy staged a comeback in the second set with JP Cruda and Thaddeus Cammayo scoring points as the performance of Literature dwindled.
Cruda, Cammayo, Larssen Ibarra, and Hencel Gumabay pitched in points to help elevate Philosophy but still fell short to the Gormley and Carl Mercado-led Literature team.
However, Literature struggled against the highly-physical CA, without Mercado on the floor. Froilan Hilario overwhelmed Literature with a barrage of services that the latter failed to receive, creating an early 10-point advantage.
Gormley, whose cheers and encouragements once echoed in the Felix Huertas Court, fell into silence as CA’s Hilario, Pope Sta. Maria, and Jepoy Francisco demolished Literature, 12-25.
The victories of the aforementioned teams, however, do not guarantee their quarterfinals berth as the tourney follows the quotient rule wherein the top team in each of the four brackets will advance to the next round.
The remaining games of the elimination round will be on Jan. 18. F GAEA KATREENA C. CABICO
