Cebuana volleyball star Danika Gendrauli overcame the odds and towed the Gilligan’s Sisig Queens to a thrilling 19-21, 21-14, 15-11 victory over the Foton Tornadoes to claim the women’s title in the PLDT Home Ultera Philippine SuperLiga Beach Volleyball Challenge Cup 2015 yesterday at Sands By the Bay in SM Mall of Asia.
Battling high fever, a sluggish start and a Tornadoes duo of Patty Orendain and Fiola Ceballos who were intent on taking the championship, Gendrauli kept her opponents guessing down the stretch to win the women’s division crown.
After suffering high fever in the past few days, Gendrauli still marched to the war zone with fire in her eyes following a pair of bitter setbacks from the hands of Ceballos and national team skipper Jovelyn Gonzaga in a commercial tournament in Boracay in 2012 and 2013.
Her partnership with defense specialist Norie Jane Diaz started on the wrong foot as the Tornadoes managed to withstand all kinds of attacks thrown their way.
“We decided to change our target,” said Diaz, a 22-year-old spiker from Perpetual and one of the vital cogs of Mane ‘n Tail in the recent PSL All-Filipino Conference. “Fiola is so strong in her attacks. We couldn’t stop her. So we decided to give the first ball to Patty to take Fiola away from the attack zone.”
The plan paid off handsomely as the Tornadoes failed to react to the blazing assaults of the Sisig Queens.
After squaring the count at one-set apiece, Gilligan’s opened the deciding set with a 5-3 advantage off a pair of aces from Gendrauli.
Although the Tornadoes managed to tie it at 8, Genrauli was too fast, too furious as she peppered the defense with a dizzying combination of long and short ball attacks.
“My temperature was 38.4°C. I was really sick the past three days but I still did my best to train and come up with necessary preparations,” said Gendrauli, the former Southwestern University star from Mandaue who won the beach volley crown in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. games.
“Winning the title is really a great feeling. Our hard work paid off. Even while I was sick, I still did my best to train because this is commitment, and I am committed to represent this team in the inaugural PSL Beach Volleyball tournament.”