It was a weekday, and a Friday at that. But somehow, I still found myself in the arena sidelines for that day’s scheduled game. For some reason, I felt a bit weird being there alone without my regular cohorts. 

The first game stirred up excitement as the lady eagles leveled the match in set two. But the lady tamaraws made all necessary adjustments in their gameplay and took the next 2 sets to secure their victory.

Fille Cainglet, Charo Soriano, Dzi Gervacio, Bea Pascual and the rest of the Katipunan belles displayed notable performances. But that day really belonged to the ladies from Morayta as they effectively countered most of the scoring attempts from the girls in blue. Rachel Daquis led action for the lady tams’ scoring crew together with Shai Gonzalez and Numay Vivas.

FEU won over ADMU in 4 sets 25-20, 23-25, 25-21, 25-19

The second game appeared to have been a repeat of the recent NCAA championships as San Sebastian routed Saint Benilde in a 3-setter. The lady stags led by Elaine Cruz, Margarita Pepito and Joy Benito took advantage of the seemingly hapless plays coming from the lady blazers. Only Katty Kwan, Giza Yumang and Charmaine Velez appeared to have been effective for CSB in that game.

SSC won over CSB in 3 sets 25-21, 25-19, 25-14

The games ended sooner than I’m normally used to that day. But it didn’t seem to matter that much, as I was sure things are going to heat up more and be better for the rest of this season.

I might have been too excited as I arrived at around 12nn for an event that was slated for 2pm. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that I wasn’t alone. As a matter of fact, ahead of me was already a rather long queue for tickets which as early as that went around to the back of the arena.

Unlike during opening day for the 1st season, there was no special program to kick-off the start of this season. In a way, that was actually better. It meant that start time was game time!

The first match had the Adamson University (AdU) lady falcons going against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) tigresses.

This season’s current beach volleyball champions Lizlee Ann Gata and Angela Benting both played major roles in driving the efforts from the Lady Falcons’ side. But with regulars like Aiza Maizo, Maika Ortiz, Rhea Dimaculangan and Hanna Mance; the ladies from España controlled majority of the match. Very good performances were also seen from comebacking Angeli Tabaquero and rookie Maru Banaticla.

UST won over AdU in 4 sets 25-18, 17-25, 25-17, 25-16

The second match was between the Far Eastern University (FEU) lady tamaraws and the University of the Philippines (UP) lady maroons. Everyone all had their respective supporters watching and cheering their teams. Even the recently injured Jed Montero of the UP WVT was there helping out the coaching team.

The ladies from State U bravely stood their ground. But the lady tamaraws were unwavering as they claimed the match in 3 straight sets.

FEU won over UP in 3 sets 25-13, 25-23, 25-16

There were some confusion due to changes made with the original schedule. But I think what is out right now is already final. Anyway, I’ll have the latest schedule, standings and game results up on this site as part of the new mini update and news feature.

They’re baaack!!!

The teams from the country’s premiere intercollegiate volleyball league for women resume play starting this coming Sunday. The second conference for the 6th season of Shakey’s V-League will kick off in it’s regular home court at the Filoil-Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The following are the teams that would be participating for this conference:

• Adamson University (AdU) Lady Falcons
• Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Lady Eagles
• College of Saint Benilde (CSB) Lady Blazers
• Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws
• Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU) Lady Pirates
• San Sebastian College (SSC) Lady Stags
• University of the Philippines (UP) Lady Maroons
• University of Santo Tomas (UST) Lady Tigresses

Below is the schedule of games for the first week.

October 11
2pm – UST vs AdU
4pm – FEU vs UP

October 13
2pm – AdU vs LPU
4pm – UP vs ADMU
6pm – UST vs FEU

October 16
4pm – AdU vs UP
6pm – LPU vs UST

Largely due to ongoing preparations for the incoming SEA games, teams are limited to only one guest player this conference.

It’s really exciting to see what adjustments each team has undergone since the break. All the teams have changes from their previous line-ups. Some teams have new guest players. And some even have new team captains.

But regardless of all the changes, for sure fans would still be there… ever present and supportive of their respective favorite teams. As I would be as well.

See you during the games!

I feel like it’s been a while since I shot a game in the V-League. I have gotten so used to taking pictures of the games that two weeks off without it seems enough to put me into withdrawal.

Fortunately, I got the time and chance to shoot again at the Arena last Sunday. Coming from a reunion meeting that day, I arrived a bit late for the games. The first match between UST and FEU had already started and was actually almost halfway through. The girls from Espana got to an early start and won the initial set. But the lady Tamaraws fought really hard and took the game by winning the next 3 sets.

It was a big day for the teams in the final 4. The games for this day helps decide which teams move on to the finals and which teams get left behind to fight for third place.

The win by FEU forced a do-or-die game against UST once again.

In almost a similar fashion, the second match was briskly concluded by SSC when they won over the undermanned Adamson squad in straight sets. That victory pushes the lady Stags to the first position for the finals series. Consequently, the result also sent the lady Falcons hunting for third place at best.

Just sharing a few shots I got from both games that day.

FEU vs UST – (16-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-23)
SSC vs Adu – (25-14, 25-22, 25-14)

It was a really rainy Thursday and the roads have been wet all day. As expected, there were lot of spots around the metro with a bit of traffic. All these caused me to arrive late for the first game. It was already well past half the second set when I got to find a place to position myself.

It was the lady Falcons of Adamson going against the lady Blazers of Saint Benilde with the former taking the first set. The San Marcelino ladies must have been really missing the services of their guest player Nene Bautista, Lilet Mabbayad and setter Janet Serafica, as they consequently lost the second and third sets. The CSB ladies on the other hand, were very passionate in their efforts as lead by Maureen Penetrante, Katty Kwan, Cindy Velasquez, Giza Yumang, Zharmaine Velez and Renilyne Kara Agero. The game came to a fifth deciding set with the defending champion Falcons surviving the spirited stand of the Blazers. The undermanned Adamson banked on their dependable infantry led by Sang Laguilles, Pau Soriano, Angela Benting and unheralded Angelica Quinlog.

AdU vs CSB  -  (25-20, 18-25, 24-26, 26-24, 15-10)

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