Savouge Aesthetics held off a late-game rally from University of Santo Tomas–Gameville to claim a thrilling 25-27, 25-16, 25-22, 25-21 victory, opening the round-robin semifinals of the 2025 Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
In a match that lived up to the Big Dome’s first-ever Spikers’ Turf outing, the Spin Doctors relied on the composure of Madz Gampong and Giles Torres to put away the Golden Spikers, who were missing key players Josh Ybañez, Al-Bukharie Sali, JJ Macam, and head coach Odjie Mamon.
UST–Gameville showed the same grit that defined their final elimination game, closing an 8-3 run to trim a 12-18 deficit to just 20-21, threatening to push the contest to a fifth set.
But Gampong ignited a personal 3-0 run to give Savouge match point, and Torres sealed the win with a towering block on Sherwin Umandal, delivering the Spin Doctors’ first victory in the six-team semifinals of the tournament organized by Sports Vision and supported by Alpha Insurance, Premiere EMS, Buffalo’s Wings N’ Things, Arena Plus, and Black Mamba.
“Masaya kasi ‘yun ‘yung goal namin. We want to start our round-robin semifinals na dapat manalo kami para dire-diretso ‘yung momentum namin,” said Savouge head coach Sydney Calderon. “Masaya ako kasi for the past three days, talagang ‘yung mga players nagpagod talaga sa training, so parang lumabas siya — lumabas lahat ng pinag-trainingan namin.”
Mark Calado led the Spin Doctors with 20 points from 17 attacks and three blocks, while Torres added 17 points, including nine attacks, six blocks, and two aces. Sherwin Caritativo contributed 10 points and 14 excellent receptions, and Gampong chipped in seven points and seven excellent digs off the bench, filling in for Reymark Betco, who played only the first set due to a right ankle injury.
Savouge will face ProVolley Academy of Australia on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Filoil EcoOil Centre, aiming for a second straight win.
For UST–Gameville, error woes continued from the eliminations as they committed 34 miscues in nearly two hours of play. Gboy De Vega led with 18 points on 15 attacks, two kill blocks, and one ace, coupled with 24 excellent receptions, while Andrei Delicana and Umandal added 14 and 12 points, respectively.
The Golden Spikers will try to bounce back against defending champion Cignal, whom they beat in the eliminations, on Saturday at 5 p.m.
All games are aired live on One Sports and One Sports+, with video-on-demand access via the Pilipinas Live app. Matches are also streamed on spikersturf.ph.
