Lack of chemistry and practice time did not stop VNS-One Alicia from nabbing its first win in the 2022 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference.
On Tuesday night, the Griffins, led by national team stalwart Ish Polvorosa and collegiate standout Ben San Andres, took down the gutsy Ateneo-Fudgee Barr in five sets, 25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 23-25, 15-19, to open their campaign on a winning note.
Polvorosa dished out 29 excellent sets to spearhead his new team while San Andres dropped a triple-double of 20 points, 16 excellent receptions, and 13 excellent digs.
Kevin Montemayor and Uriel Mendoza scored 14 and 10 points, respectively, while late addition Kim Malabunga chipped in eight points in the victory.
Despite these fine individual performances, VNS head coach Ralph Ocampo revealed that the team is still in the process of building its chemistry after only getting one full week of practice together.
“Ang struggle talaga ng team namin is yung time constraint. Kasi yung ibang teams ilang months nang nagtetraining tapos kami nakumpleto lang kami last week,” said Ocampo.
“I’m training with the kids, sila (Ish) yung mga guest players. Yung mga bagets ko sila Gavan, San Andres, sila Mendoza, so ang challenge sa amin is paano mag je-jell yung young ones doon sa mga veterans, kung paano sila magta-trabaho sa loob, paano sila maga-adjust sa system kasi we have our own system. Yun yung wino-work on namin,” he continued.
Meanwhile, Polvorosa is confident that the team can make up for lost time during the games itself.
“This time around, I’m playing for a new team na kami yung parang guest players and then we’re happy na slowly but surely, we’re getting our chemistry with the team,” said the five-time UAAP Best Setter.
“Kailangan naming pagtrabahuhan pa yung mga dapat pagtrabahuhan pa. In time, yung mga games na darating pa and because of our training, I'm sure we will get there na.”
