Ateneo de Davao capped an impressive V-League Mindanao campaign with a 25-17, 25-27, 25-15, 25-9 victory over University of Mindanao on Wednesday night at the packed Davao City Recreational Center.
The Blue Knights went undefeated in six matches, asserting dominance in the third and fourth sets behind Final MVP Elysha Cabingatan, after the Wildcats had leveled the match at one set apiece.
“It feels surreal,” said coach JC Velasquez after Ateneo reached the summit of the Mindanao edition of the V-League.
Cabingatan tallied 20 points, with 14 of them coming in the final two sets, helping Ateneo impose its will. She recorded 15 kills, four service aces, and a block, along with nine receptions and three digs.
Setter Lybe Yee, who anchored the team all tournament long, earned the season MVP honors. Yee delivered 40 excellent sets in the gold medal match.
Shai Noro matched Cabingatan with four service aces and finished with 17 points and seven receptions, while Sam Jimenez, named 1st Best Middle Blocker, added 15 points, including five blocks.
Team captain Saara Taguiran, recently awarded Best Opposite Spiker, contributed 13 points, including three service aces. “I’m mostly grateful and overwhelmed, yun lang po,” said Taguiran.
Rika Sasaki led UM with 21 points, including 11 in the second set, and added two service aces, earning the 1st Best Outside Spiker honor for the Wildcats.
In the men’s division, Holy Cross of Davao College also completed a perfect 6-0 campaign with a 26-24, 25-20, 17-25, 25-19 victory over Philippine Women’s College of Davao.
The Cross Blazers’ Geduer Egpan, who set a V-League Mindanao scoring record of 38 points during the preliminaries, was named Final MVP, while Jhon Austria earned tournament MVP honors.
Meanwhile, HCDC took the bronze in the women’s division after sweeping Jose Maria College, 25-19, 25-20, 26-24, while UM outlasted JMC, 21-25, 25-23, 17-25, 25-16, 15-7, to claim third place in the men’s side.
