Lipa City—Playing for pride, California Precision Sports beat Baguio City, 25-14, 23-25, 25-11, 25-12, for its first Philippine National Volleyball Federation Champions League victory on Tuesday at the Aquamarine Recreational Center.
The Lady Highlanders also finally won a svoet in the second, but the Antipolo-based CPS regrouped with a dominant performance in the third and fourth to prevail.
“We could have done better,” said skipper Kizzie Madriaga after her teammates allowed Baguio City to steal a set before playing their usual game and snatch their first win in four outings.
The Lady Highlanders fell to 0-4.
Caisey Dongallo scored all but one of her 25 points on attacks and collected seven digs, Jelai Gajero added 16 points and eight digs andsetter Madriaga tossed in 19 excellent sets for CPS.
Handled by multi-titled high school coach Jerry Yee in a bubble training for a month, CPS was finally rewarded after putting up a gallant stand in its first three matches.
“Coach Yee prepared for us very well,” Gajero said.
Those losses against professional clubs toughened CPS and Yee was the glue that kept the young crew together in the tournament that has Rebisco, Pitmaster Foundation Inc., Top Speed, 1Pacman Partylist, Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee as platinum sponsors and F2 Logistics, Asics, PLDT, MVP Sports Foundation and Mikasa as gold sponsors and BCDA, Philippine Red Cross, Lipa City, Davis Paint and Emerald PVC Pipes, Fittings and Doors as silver sponsors with PNVF godfather, Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the Champions League, giving his full support.
“He is so calm coaching us,” said Madriaga, referring to Yee.
A “grassroots” volleyball program consisting of players from Bicol, Bulacan, Cebu, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Rizal, CPS lived up to the mantra “nothing to lose, everything to gain.”
“Our group’s dedication to the sport and its continuous precision training while in the bubble is paying off despite the pandemic,” said CPS owner Dr. Obet Vital, who hopes that some of the athletes could try out for next year’s Asian Volleyball Cup U17 and U19 competitions in Thailand and China, respectively.
Ann Atuban and Joan Lyn Maddatu each scored seven points, while Shyla Marie Ylarde and Rhaetia Mae Pilo contributed six points apiece for Baguio.
Both teams wrap up their Champions League campaigns on Wednesday with CPS hoping to go out on a high note against Petro Gazz at 1:30 p.m. and Baguio will getting its final shot of a first win in a 4 p.m. clash with Chery Tiggo.
The games are live streamed over the PNVF official website volleyballphilippines.com, iWantTFC for local and international audiences, Puso Pilipinas and Smart Sports Facebook pages and YouTube channels and Gigaplay.