Stretched to the limit by an equally formidable, game visitors from Rosario, Cavite, STI Ortigas-Cainta’s volleyball team got its second wind when the game mattered the most to score a come-from-behind, five-set victory on Wednesday and earn a return trip to the National Finals of the Sports Cup at the Eusebio Tanco Gymnasium inside the Ortigas, Cainta campus.
Ortigas-Cainta prevailed, 25-20, 28-26, 22-25, 26-28, 15-8, but not after playing catch up for most of the way.
But Diana Nicole Panes and Kathrice Sakay, holdovers from last season’s team that played in the National Finals, stepped up when the game was on the line.
Panes completed several serving aces that stabilized the home team’s endgame poise even as Sakay’s deceptive, ball placings and ability to look for the defensive gaps, gave Ortigas-Cainta the cushion they needed before putting away its counterpart.
Ortigas-Cainta had to hold off a solid game from a promising player named Stephany Dominguez, a long, heavy-hitting, athletic player, who nearly carried her team all by her lonesome.
But the home team got the much-needed break when Dominguez suffered from cramps and had to be pulled out for a good number of minutes during the crucial stretch, an opportunity which Ortigas-Cainta was able to capitalize.
Down the stretch, it was Panes and Sakay who kept ahold of their team as they able to turn things around halfway the fifth and deciding quarter when they conspired in a blistering 7-0 spurt for a big endgame finish for Ortigas-Cainta.
Making the National Finals the second time around was definitely sweeter, according to Sakay.
“Last year, parang sakto lang halos mga teams, pero this time, mas competitive na yung mga kalaban,” said Sakay, the stocky but shifty player, who also served as the squad’s glue girl, making sure that everything will be under control whenever she’s inside the court.
For head coach Jose Edgar Vitor, watching his team playing catch up for most of the way was indeed surprising, yet he deflected the credit to his players for showing the resolve to win.
“Sanay kaming kami yung hinahabol, pero kanina, kami yung parating naghahabol, pero ginawaan pa rin ng paraan ng mga players para manalo,” he added.
His deputy coach, Messiah Gianan, believes the hometown cheering crowd played a big help in winning it the hard way against Rosario.
“Whenever we’re keeping the game close, the crowd has always been behind us, but sometimes, we felt the pressure as well,” added Gianan. “Talagang 100 percent yung suporta nila sa amin kaya kami nanalo.”
Moving forward, the rest of the team is convinced they’re going to need their seventh man — the hometown cheering section or Ortigas-Cainta — to come in full force to put themselves in a much better position to compete against the big dogs of the tournament in the National Finals.
