By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The Bacolod Tay Tung High School Thunderbolts emerged on top in the Abanse Negrense 1st Governor’s Women’s Open Volleyball Invitational Cup held at the Montalbo Covered Court in Bacolod City over the weekend.

The Thunderbolts captured the championship following a 27-25, 25-15, 25-15 straight-set victory over the Central Philippine University Golden Lions in the one-game finale.

Rhose Viane Almendralejo was named Most Valuable Player for her consistent performance for the Thunderbolts, while Jothea Mae Ramos came away with the Best Opposite Spiker award.

Also with individual awards for Tay Tung are Patricia Hiponia as Best Setter, Dona Mae de Leon as 1st Best Middle Blocker, Jihan Chuatico as 2nd Best Middle Blocker, and Alijah Ysulan as Best Libero.

Other members of the Thunderbolts team are Camila Bartolome, Joenil Anne Ramos, Jan Rose Bulak, Abigail Labajo, Alexia Montoro, Ana Hermosura, Rhea Mae Tomas, Brianna Ang, and Carla Dosayla.

The Thunderbolts of head coach Ian Macariola had an unbeaten run in the two-day tournament, including a semifinals victory against University of St. La Salle-Bacolod.

For their part, the Golden Lions had to survive a tough 25-23, 23-25, 27-25 victory against the San Beda University Lady Red Spikers to advance to the gold medal round.

Golden Lions’ Rica Gale Silvestre was named 1st Best Outside Hitter, University of St. La Salle’s Luria Yap as 2nd Best Outside Hitter, and Angel Habacon of Lady Red Spikers as Best Server.

Other volleyball teams who participated in the tournament are University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos and University of San Jose-Recoletos of Cebu.

The Abanse Negrense 1st Governor’s Women’s Open Volleyball Invitational Cup was organized as part of the sports initiatives and programs of the Negros Occidental provincial government./ASC, WDJ