The Stands: An INQUIRER Sports Newsletter

 

May 3, 2024

Savi Davison and her PLDT teammates missed out on a semifinal appearance by a single point. (PVL IMAGES)

Hey there sports fan, It has been a week of significant numbers in sports. There's the most talked-about 51 points in basketball in a long while. There is the three-point record chase, which is littered with numerical trivia (Like, do you know who is No. 3 on the all-time list of three-pointers made? Answer below). There's lucky 13. There's even the "Death Five." Perhaps the most defining numbers in sports the past week were the ones that popped up alongside the win-loss records of teams in the Premier Volleyball League and the UAAP women's volleyball tournament. It's the points system that was used to break ties in those two tournaments. And boy, did those points make a difference. Ask PLDT coach Rald Ricafort. His team tied Creamline at fourth and fifth places in the ongoing PVL All-Filipino Cup, but the team lost out on the chase for the last semifinals ticket by a single point, 24-23.  Understand that the High Speed Hitters didn't even need to convert any of their three losses to wins to earn the needed points to boot out the defending champions. Had they forced deciding sets in defeats to Chery Tiggo and Cignal toward the tailend of their preliminaries calendar, they would have made the Last 4. Same goes for the UAAP. National U and season surprise package University of Santo Tomas fnished with identical 12-2 (win-loss) records and traditionally, UST would have gotten the top seed because it defeated NU in three sets while the Lady Bulldogs' win over the Tigresses in their next encounter lasted four sets. But because the points system was applied, NU finished at No. 1 and UST dropped to No. 2. The significance? The difference in positions meant the Tigresses will have to battle defending champion La Salle in the semifinals, albeit with twice-to-beat protection, while NU gets to take on No. 4 Far Eastern U,

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San Miguel Beer continues to roll in the Philippine Cup.  (PBA IMAGES)

Meanwhile... This will most likely fly under the radar, but here's an interesting read on a low-key volleyball squad winning the national championship for boys. Also, San Miguel Beer is gunning for a perfect finish in the PBA Philippine Cup elimination round, but no matter who you talk to, no one is counting streaks within the Beermen camp. No one's counting milestones, either. Ask Jorge Gallent. Or Marcio Lassiter. The Beermen have been rolling in the all-Filipino tournament but talk to Chris Ross and he'll be the first to say his team has another gear they can shift to when the playoffs comes around. What we're up to next: We will be covering the PBA playoffs chase, which is now in its tailend, and continue covering the single-round semifinals of the PVL. We'll also be going full blast on our UAAP Season 86 women's volleyball tournament and hope that you will get your fix of varsity action from us, across all our platforms. Number of the Week: 14 In ounces, that's how heavy the gloves that Mike Tyson and Jake Paul will use in their bout weigh. Traditionally, boxing gloves weight 10 ounces. The heavier the gloves will reduce the power of punches.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “Solving a Rubik’s Cube calms us.” —National U star ALyssa Solomon on how the Lady Bulldogs spend their evenings after they surrender their phones to their coaches.

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LA Tenorio. That's the answer to the trivia question above. Think you can ace the rest of the quiz? head over to our Viber community and try the test out! Buy the Inquirer at newsstands, subscribe to our digital edition, Inquirer Plus, visit our online site and follow us on socials (Twitter: @inquirersports; FB: facebook.com/inquirersports) for more stories and updates—or to send us questions or suggestions of stories you'd want to read. See you next Friday! Francis Francis T. J. Ochoa is the Sports Editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. For comments, suggestions and questions, hit him up on Twitter (@ftjochoaINQ).

The Stands: An INQUIRER Sports Newsletter

 

April 26, 2024

National University gets a playoff bonus first. (AUGUST DELA CRUZ)

Hey there sports fan, Before anything else, how about we give the St. Benilde Lady Blazers their much-deserved share of the spotlight? Also, we did an interesting primer on the three artistic gymnastics events that Carlos Yulo will focus on as he seeks podium finishes in the Paris Olympics later this year. You can read the three-part "The Art of Yulo" series here, here and here.    That series will give you an  idea about how performances are scored in the Olympics and will also  introduce you to Yulo's bag of tricks, including the answer to this trivia question: The Nagornyy triple pike is a move performed in what event in artistic gymnastics? We will share the answer here at the end of this email. So, it must feel great to be a Lady Bulldog nowadays. Entering the second preliminary round of the UAAP Season 86 women's volleyball tournament, National U was at third place, behind the surprising University of Santo Tomas and defending champion La Salle. But NU has swept the second round and is now the first team to qualify for twice-to-beat protection in the Final Four. And make ni mistake about it, the Lady Bulldogs plan to leave that semifinal benefit unused.

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Chery Tiggo drove itself into the semifinals and PLDT out of contention.  (AUGUST DELA CRUZ)

Meanwhile... The present and the future clashed in the PVL All-Filipino, with Choco Mucho's powerful Sisi Rondina battling Farm Fresh rising star Trisha Tubu. Both are excellent hitters and served up a preview of future clashes. Needless to say, Rondina was impressed with what she saw.  Meanwhile, it took some serious work but Chery Tiggo reached the semifinals anyway. The Crossovers found the Galeries Tower Highrisers a surprisingly tough nut to crack and had to rally for a five-set victory on Thursday evening.  That win but Chery Tiggo in the Final Four and also sealed that cast after officially ousting PLDT.  What we're up to next: We will be tracking three-point milestones in the PBA as well as keep tabs on the Philippine Cup, which is now moving to the homestretch of the elimination round. We'll also continue our coverage of the PVL, UAAP and the NCAA volleyball tournaments so keep it here on all your Inquirer platforms. Number of the Week: 53 Three-pointers Marcio Lassiter needs to make as of this letter's posting to become the all-time leader in that department.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “We are the saling pusa (outsiders) compared to NU and La Salle, so we would really just want to gate-crash their party.” —UST Tigresses coach Kungfu Reyes, on chasing a top-two berth.

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Floor exercise. That's the answer to the trivia question above. Think you can ace the rest of the quiz? head over to our Viber community and try the test out! Buy the Inquirer at newsstands, subscribe to our digital edition, Inquirer Plus, visit our online site and follow us on socials (Twitter: @inquirersports; FB: facebook.com/inquirersports) for more stories and updates—or to send us questions or suggestions of stories you'd want to read. See you next Friday! Francis Francis T. J. Ochoa is the Sports Editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. For comments, suggestions and questions, hit him up on Twitter (@ftjochoaINQ).

The STANDS: An INQUIRER Sports Newsletter

 

April 19, 2024

La Salle remains upbeat about its title defense.. (UAAP Media)

Hey there sports fan, How about this UAAP women's volleyball season, huh? All that action, all the stunning reversals has left as here, where three teams are still in contention for the twice-to-beat bonus. That semifinal protection will shield the top two teams at the end of the elimination round, forcing the need to win twice in a row on teams Nos. 3 and 4 to advance to the championship.  National U's victory over La Salle allowed the chase to be simplified to one key matchup: The Lady Spikers battle the University of Santo Tomas Tigresses in their last assignment before the semifinals and the winner of that duel will likely clinch one of the two top spots. La Salle's only worry now is the status of star spiker Angel Canino, who has been out of commission because of a hand injury. The Lady Spikers have been winning without her, but it is clear the defending champions might need her to suit up against the Tigresses. For UST, Angge Poyos' health will also be a concern after she missed the crucial fourth set of a stunning loss to Far Eastern U. The Tigresses hope that in the event Poyos will be less than a hundred percent against La Salle, the rest of the team will pick up the slack. Among the leaders of UST is setter Cassie Carballo, who shares a matching tattoo with one of her teammates. Care to guess who? The answer will be at the end of this email. Without Canino, meanwhile, La Salle has been riding the likes of Shevana Laput and Julia Coronel.

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Creamline is slowly rediscovering its killer form.  (PVL IMAGES)

Meanwhile... The PBA and the PVL are also heating up as both leagues are slowly going into the deeper phases of their current tournaments. In the PVL All-Filipino, five teams have two losses each and with only four teams qualifying for the semifinals, expect a whirlwind finish to the eliminations. Looking for a key match? Try Creamline vs PLDT on April 25. That could very well decide the Final 4. What we're up to next: It's gut-check time in the UAAP, PVL and PBA. Keep it here on all our platforms to read the latest news and the best lean-back features. Number of the Week: 22 Caitlin Clark's jersey number when she suits up for the Indiana Fever in the WNBA.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “We didn't lose the game. We learned from it.” —UST Tigresses coach Kungfu Reyes, after his team lost in an upset to FEU. Olympics.

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Reg Jurado. That's the answer to the trivia question above. Think you can ace the rest of the quiz? head over to our Viber community and try the test out! Buy the Inquirer at newsstands, subscribe to our digital edition, Inquirer Plus, visit our online site and follow us on socials (Twitter: @inquirersports; FB: facebook.com/inquirersports) for more stories and updates—or to send us questions or suggestions of stories you'd want to read. See you next Friday! Francis Francis T. J. Ochoa is the Sports Editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. For comments, suggestions and questions, hit him up on Twitter (@ftjochoaINQ).