Davies Paints-Adamson recovered from a third set slip and pounded Santa Rosa City's defense in the fourth, coming away with a 25-15, 25-16, 16-25, 25-21 victory for a share of Pool C lead in the Spikers' Turf Invitational Conference at the Paco Arena Sunday.
Coming off a disappointing loss in the third set, the Soaring Falcons mustered all their strength in the next to finally put away the Lions with Mark Coguimbal coming up with an emphatic block off Gadpray Aresgado to spark a 3-0 spurt that widened a 20-19 edge to a 23-19 lead.
Hero Austria traded hits with Francis Casas, who put Adamson at match-point with a searing pipe attack before Coguimbal made a service error, enabling the Lions to stay in the game.
However, Gutierrez, who capped a previous run also with a block off Aresgado, delivered the off-the-block hit that sent Davies-Adamson to joint lead with fancied Cignal at 2-0 while dealing Sta. Rosa its third consecutive loss in the tournament organized by Sports Vision.
"Yung maturity, makukuha nila 'yan dito. Kasi malaking bagay na makasali kami dito kasi nga yung mga kalaban namin mga UAAP at mga beterano, so iba pa rin talaga yung mga beterano. Sabi ko nga, yung learning is nandoon, so dapat yung winning attitude nandoon din," said Davies-Adamson coach George Pascua.
John Gay, who was not fielded back in the fourth set, still posted a team-high 13 points on 11 attacks and two blocks while Casas tallied 11 points on 10 attacks and one block in their one-hour and 46-minute victory.
"Syempre, hindi pa talaga ganun ka-mature yung team. May mga times talaga na darating sa ganung situation, pero na-manage naman siya with the help ng mga second 6 namin," said Pascua, referring to the third set defeat.
Jude Aguilar and Marc Paulino each chipped in 10 points in the victory while Coguimbal had five blocks to finish with nine markers.
Adamson looks to strengthen its playoff bid against St. Gerard Construction-Benilde (1-0) on Sunday while Santa Rosa takes a two-week break before facing Coast Guard on Nov. 22.
Hero Austria paced Sta. Rosa with 16 points on 14 attacks and two aces to go along with 14 excellent receptions while Aresgado added 11 markers, including four kill blocks.
