By ADRIAN STEWART CO
The Bacolod Tay Tung High School Thunderbolts, representing Western Visayas (WV), repeated as gold medal winners in the 2024 Palarong Pambansa secondary girls’ volleyball tournament.
The Thunderbolts retained their gold medal following a 25-15, 18-25, 27-29, 25-22, 15-12 victory over the National Capital Region’s (NCR) Far Eastern University Lady Baby Tamaraws in the finals match at the University of San Jose Recoletos Gym in Cebu City on Monday, July 15.
Dona Mae de Leon carried the scoring cudgels for WV, with 15 points on 10 blocks and five attacks, while Rhose Vianne Almendralejo showed another consistent game to be named Most Valuable Player.
This was the second straight year that the Thunderbolts-represented WV captured the Palaro gold after also defeating NCR’s National University Lady Bullpups last year in Marikina City.
After a heartbreaking defeat in the third set, WV, behind the tandem of De Leon and Almendralejo, responded with a strong performance in the fourth set for a slim 25-22 set win, forcing a decider.
In the fifth set, WV struggled early as they were down 3-5 before they unloaded consecutive points to take an 11-8 advantage over NCR, represented by the Far Eastern University-Diliman Lady Baby Tamaraws.
However, NCR kept the match close at 10-11 with back-to-back conversions before WV completed their come-from-behind victory with a 4-1 finishing run.
Also part of the WV squad are team captain Jothea Mae Ramos, who is set to join the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons this year, Brianna Nikola Ang, Camila Amor Bartolome, and Mary Antonette Bontia.
Other members of the Ian Macariola-led squad are Jan Rose Bulak, Czarina Marcella Dosayla, Ana Francessca Hermosura, Ana Ysabelle Hermosura, Joenil Anne Ramos, and Rhea Mae Tomas.
WV completed a sweep of their group stage matches against Region 12 – Soccsksargen (25-16, 25-18), Region 2 – Cagayan Valley (25-16, 25-18) and Region 1 – Ilocos Region (25-15, 25-11).
In the quarterfinals round, WV dominated Davao Region, 25-15, 25-18, before finishing off Northern Mindanao in the semifinals round, 25-14, 25-13, 25-20, on Sunday, July 14.
This will be Bacolod Tay Tung High School’s last time representing WV, as they will be under the Negros Island Region beginning next year./ASC, WDJ