BACOLOD Tay Tung High School Thunderbolts showed it can keep in step with other volleyball squads after finishing at third place in the 2018 Akari National High School Volleyball Championships held last week at the Adamson University Gym.
The Thunderbolts salvaged a third place finish following a 17-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-15 victory over the University of Santo Tomas Junior Tigresses behind the fine plays of Shane Carmona and Alyssa Bertolano.
âThis is a great achievement for us, especially in our schoolâs volleyball program,â Thunderbolts head coach Ian Macariola said. âItâs a total team effort by the players kaya kami nakapag-salvage ng podium finish.â
Thunderbolts had a near perfect run in the eliminations with three straight victories over Iligan City National High School (35-32), University of Cordilleras (35-10), and Far Eastern University Baby Tamaraws (35-18).
Thunderbolts, however, was unable to pull off its fourth consecutive win for the day with a close 31-35 defeat to Holy Rosary College. It also faltered in the semifinals against eventual champions Hope Christian High School (20-25, 16-25, 25-21, 27-29).
Other members of the team are Marianne Sotomil, Rhean Hebraica Almendralejo, Marixi Maligmat, Beatrice Decena, Jeanny Padilla, Kiesha Bedonia, Nohlin Jundana, Joan Doguna and Joan Monares.
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Just days after lording over Ronda Pilipinas 2018, veteran rider Ronald Oranza of Navy-Standard Insurance is now setting his sights on defending his overall championship next year.
The Villasis, Pangasinan-native rider said he will just take a break for a couple of weeks before returning to practice for his title defense and for his stints in the Phl National Games in Cebu next month and the Le Tour in May.
âWe will try to win it again next year. We will give it our best to make it happen,â said Oranza. âWe have a busy schedule this year because we will join international and local races.â
Oranza has a dominant performance in the tournament where he ended up with an aggregate time of 34 hours, 11 minutes and 23 seconds, blowing the competition headed by 2016 and 2017 champion Jan Paul Morales also of Navy by 11 minutes.
Oranza seized a comfortable lead after topping the Vigan-Pagudpud Stage Two to coast to the title. Since then, he won three stages and posted a total of nine podium finishes to crush the competition.
For his performance, Oranza won over P1 million in cash purse plus P300,000 worth of Boy Kanin franchise and the beautifully-crafted trophy. He will also get an equal share of the P150,000 pocketed by the Navymen for ruling the team event./PN
