The belles of the reigning champions Mandaue and their rivals Talisay City set up a championship showdown in the women’s division as they hurdled their respective opponents in contrasting fashion in the semifinals of the 7th Governor Gwen Garcia Unity Volleyball Cup yesterday at the Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue City.
Mandaue City boasted of too much firepower, which Liloan could not handle, as the reigning champions prevailed in four sets, 25-10, 17-25, 25-21, 25-20.
Talisay, on the other hand, handily swept past the young Catmon squad, 25-18, 25-21, 25-16.
Mandaue started the game on fire as their starting unit, composed of Kennete Garces, former RP team member Genie Sabas, Danika Gendraule and reinforcements Joanne Bunag and Erika Verano made mincemeat out Liloan’s defense to snatch a 1-0 set lead.
However, Liloan battled back behind the frenetic energy of their import RP beach volleyball team member Juvelyn Gonzaga and Fretzie Aligway to take the second set.
Mandaue proved to be too crafty and too skilled as Jusabelle Brillo and Bunag connived to down Liloan in the next two sets.
In the other semis match, Talisay stamped their mastery of Catmon with a thrilling comeback from nine points down in the second set.
After winning the first set easily, Talisay suddenly went into a funk as they were not able to stop the attacks of Catherine Marquez en route to facing a 12-21 deficit.
Making matters even worse was the ankle injury that was sustained by spiker Mangelica Villaflores, which took her out of the game.
This development allowed Talisay to field in their import Joy Cases of Lyceum University and she delivered the crucial points, including the last two daggers that pierced the heart of Catmon.
The comeback also blew the winds out of the sails of Catmon, leading them to defeat in the third and final set as Julett Marikit, Florian Guttierez and import April Hingpit all found their stride.
Meanwhile, Mandaue also made it to the finals in the elementary division as they took out Sta. Fe, 20-25, 26-24, 25-22.
Their opponent today will be Moalboal, which upset Catmon, 14-25, 25-17, 25-19.
The men’s semifinal matches were still being played in as of this writing.
The finals today start with the men’s matches at 9 a.m. at the same venue. The women’s championship game will be at 1 p.m. with the elementary division title game following after.
Philippine Sports Commission chairman, Richie Garcia and Philippine Volleyball Federation president, Gener Dungo, will also be on hand to present the plaque signifying Cebu as the “Volleyball Capital of the Philippines.”