A STEEL-NERVED College of Commerce and Business Administration carved a three-peat grand slam championship drubbing the AMV-College of Accountancy, 25-15, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19 in the Thomasian Goodwill Games volleyball wars at the Padre Noval Court last September 6.
“They really showed what they’ve got by executing a great offense and defense,” said Commerce coach Francis Quesada.
Flaunting a steadfast offense against Accountancy, Commerce had a quick demolition through banking on the opponent’s muddled defense, 25-15, in the first set.
But Accountancy was unfazed, bouncing back through an onslaught from the tournament’s Best Blocker Paul Cruz. Their advantage continued with a service ace by Cruz punctuated the frame for Accountancy, 19-25.
In the third set, Commerce immediately recovered from their offensive lapses and fired up an 8-0 scoring blast led by Most Valuable Player (MVP) Carl Ortega, putting the scores at 12-7.
A cross-court kill by Best Server Joshua Canasa of Accountancy tried to ease the pain but was not enough to edge out Commerce’s barrage of attacks, 25-19.
Cruz and Reniel Garcia rejected Mark Pangan’s quick attack for Commerce in the last set via solid twin blocks that tied the scores at 11-11. But Pangan, also hailed the Best Attacker, exploded with four consecutive kills followed by a cross-court spike by Ortega that led to a 3-point rim, 19-16.
Pangan then delivered another quick attack to demoralize the Accountancy squad, 24-19, but an error by Cruz finally iced the match for Commerce, 25-19.
Previously, Commerce established a perfect 3-0 win-loss card in the eliminations, and ruled over the Faculty of Engineering in the semi-finals, 26-24, 25-12, 25-9.
Back-to-back tiaras
In the distaff side, Accountancy nipped College of Architecture in a quick three-setter battle, 25-20, 26-24, 25-21, issuing a back-to-back championship record.
Temperature went high in the final set when the Architecture’s defense recuperated while Accountancy team faltered due to unforced errors, 24-21.
Earlier, Accountancy had an easy advantage by winning the first set, 25-20, courtesy of a crucial kill by Karen Perdon.
“We made sure than in every point that our opponents produced, we will immediately bounce back,” said team captain Sydney Chan. “We just don’t surrender in every game.”
The champion team escaped third placer Engineering in a five-set match in the semi-finals, 25-16, 20-25, 15-25, 25-14, 15-11 last September 5. Alexis U. Cerado
