Army, Cagayan score dominant wins

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines — The Philippine Army edged the Philippine Air Force in three thrilling sets to book their first win in the 5th Gov. Alvaro T. Antonio Friendship Games Tuesday, June 25, at the People’s Gymnasium here.

Veterans Michelle Carolino and Ging Balse spearheaded the Lady Troopers to the 28-26, 25-17, 25-19 triumph that jumpstarted their title bid in this week-long tournament.

Coming off a win yesterday, the Airwomen started off hot, building a 6-1 advantage, but could not sustain it as Balse torched the Air Force’s defense in a hard-fought first set win.

Both squads exchanged artilleries in the second set until old hand Tina Salak found her rhythm after a power outage caused a 10-minute break. 

Carolino and the rest of the Army crew finished off their foes in the 3rd set in spite of the efforts of Maika Ortiz and Joy Cases, who lifted the Airwomen on their backs all match long. 

Meanwhile, the glitzy Cagayan squad swept Ritz Tower Tacloban, 25-12, 25-10, 25-22 to avoid a trip to the wildcard phase and advance to the next round.

Colegio de San Juan de Letran, College of Saint Benilde, Adamson University and Air Force will go for broke on Wednesday, June 26, for a seat to the round-robin final round.

In the Men’s division, Cagayan needed all five sets to dispatch National College for Business and the Arts, 25-17, 19-25, 14-25, 25-21, 20-18 while All-Stars came from one set down to beat Army, 16-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-23.

National University on the other hand swept local team TVM, 25-15, 25-14, 25-23 to wrap up the Friendship Games Day 2.

Champions from both divisions will get Php 500,000 each while the second and third placers will take home Php 300,000 and Php 200,000 respectively. – Rappler.com