LINGAYEN, Pangasinan— With tears flowing, members of the Region 7 girls elementary volleyball team erupted into frenzied celebration after sealing a dramatic three-set win over Region 6 in their gold-medal match of the 2012 Palarong Pambansa yesterday at the Narciso Ramos Cultural and Civic Center, here.
Minutes later, it was the turn of the boys secondary volleyball team to shed tears. But this time, they were tears of agony and anger as Region 7 yielded a controversial five-set loss to the National Capital Region (NCR) in their own championship match.
The secondary final was so close that it needed a fifth set.
The Kareem Datig-coached Region 7 took the first set, 26-24, before NCR pulled even with a 25-20 win in the second set. Central Visayas surged ahead again in the third, 25-14 before NCR forced a fifth set by winning the fourth, 25-17.
In the deciding set, Region 7 trailed by four points several times, the last at 6-10. NCR inched closer to the crown when it led, 13-10 but Region 7 battled back and rallied to within one, 12-13.
Then came the crucial play that triggered an ugly scene.
As an NCR player tried to score on a kill, a Region 7 spiker tried to block it. The ball sailed out of bounds but Referee Rey Colima of Region 6, based on the decision of the line two judge, ruled it a checked ball, meaning the ball hit a blocking Region 7 player before it went out of bounds, thus giving NCR a championship point, 14-12 lead.
The play happened in front of Region 7’s bench. Mark Petancio and Ulyrus Lopez insisted that the ball didn’t hit them before it landed out of bounds.
Datig and his players contested the call vehemently that they had to be restrained by officials.
Play resumed when Region 7 calmed down but NCR stopped the game for good by scoring the final point.
Then trouble started when Datig, seething in anger, crossed to the other court and confronted the line judge who made the crucial call.
Some Region 7 players laid on the court crying, while some took off their jerseys yelling at the officials. One player smashed a glass bottle behind their bench.
NCR players were asked to leave the court as at least six policemen intervened and later dispersed the irate crowd.
Tony Umali, assistant secretary of the Department of Education, pacified the emotional Region 7 athletes and asked Datig to file a formal protest.
In its protest, Region 7 wanted the officials to admit their mistake.
“It was fine for us if we lost the championship. We have nothing against the NCR team. All we want is for the officials to admit that the call was wrong,” said Daitg.
The problem is, the officials stood firm on their decision.
“The line two judge was very emphatic that the ball hit a Region 7 player before it went out of bounds. Someone showed a video of the play and we played it several times and it was not also clear if the ball really hit a Region 7 player,” said Umali but added that video footages are not honored in protests since there is no rule for that.
Earlier, the region’s elementary spikers rallied from a first-set loss to bag its second straight Palaro title.
Region 7, composed mainly of players from Catmon Integrated School, lost the first set badly, 13-25, and trailed by as many as five points in the second set before salvaging a close, 25-23 decision to force a deciding third set which it handily won, 25-10.
The champion team also bagged major awards with Wellamae Ortega winning the Most Valuable Player and Best Attacker awards. Mary Angielou Castillo took home the Best Setter award while the Best Receiver title went to Crisley Ann Sucalit.
Coach Wilma Veloso was named Best Coach. /EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA