Navy bounced back from a shutout loss to Cignal with a 25-21, 25-21, 25-18 win over opening day winner Air Force in a victory that underscored the level playing field in the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum Sunday.
Coming off a numbing 25-17, 25-16, 27-25 loss to the HD Spikers in last Wednesday’s inaugurals, the Sealions banked on Joeven Dela Vega’s game-long brilliance, pumping in a team-high 20 points, including 16 attacks, three blocks and an ace. He scored 14 points against the fancied HD Spikers.
“Very responsive naman sila. Kagaya nung mga lapses namin, na-ensayo na namin. At the same time, yung game plan na sumunod lang sila kasi nung first game namin medyo ano sila eh, anxiety kumbaga,” said Navy head coach George Pascua.
The Sealions and the Airmen practically fought on even terms in almost all scoring skills but the former capitalized on their opponents’ miscues to fashion out the one-hour, 19-minute victory.
Navy scored 28 points off Air Force’s unforced errors.
“Very satisifed naman ako, pero syempre mas kailangan pa namin na patibayin pa yung mga weaknesses namin and mag-improve pa sa next game,” added Pascua.
Louie Pudadera ran the offense smoothly for Navy, tallying 20 excellent sets that went along with two points, while Jack Kalingking anchored the team’s defense with 15 excellent receptions and five excellent digs.
John Jacob added 10 markers on nine attacks and one block while team captain Greg Dolor had nine markers for Navy, which will take on Maverick on Wednesday.
On the other hand, Bryan Jaleco breached the 20-point mark for the second consecutive game, coming away with 20 points on 18 attacks and two blocks. He also came up with 17 excellent receptions for Air Force, which trounced Richmarc Sports in four, also last Wednesday.
No other player reached double figures for the Airmen with Ahmad Abdul and Pol Salvador settling for six points each as the Airmen slid to 1-1.
Air Force will try to bounce back versus Iloilo on Friday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
