Santa Rosa roared past National U-Archipelago in three but tough sets, 26-24, 26-24, 25-22, as the City Lions rebounded from a sorry five-set setback to the Iloilo D’Navigators in the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference at the Paco Arena on Wednesday.
But while they improved to 4-5 (win-loss) with one match left in the single round qualifier among 11 teams, the young City Lions aren’t looking past the post-elims play but are keen on putting up a strong finishing kick to an otherwise blemished campaign.
Axel Book fired 13 points, including key hits, while John Mendoza added nine points and Anrie Bakil and Harvey Quezada matched seven-point outputs for the Laguna-based squad.
The first two sets could’ve gone either way but the City Lions, whose three-game run was snapped by the D’Navigators last Friday, proved steadier than the Builders with the former going 2-0 on the latter’s back-to-back miscues.
NU actually seized control in the third frame but Santa Rosa rattled off seven straight points to grab a 19-16 edge, capped by a Book fiery blast. The City Lions never relinquished the lead although the Builders kept on fighting back, threatening at 21-23 on a Santa Rosa service error.
The Builders even pulled within one, though briefly, as the City Lions contested the point and won the ball-in/out challenge to get to match point.
NU however saved a point on Santa Rosa’s net violation but the City Lions wrapped it all up just the same on Jan Abanilla’s missed down-the-line hit.
“I’m proud of the boys since we were able to bounce back from a loss. But I always tell them that this game isn’t about to get into the semis since we know that our chances are slim, but to prove that they deserve a spot in this kind of league,” said Santa Rosa coach Edu Lirio.
Ahmad Abdul came away with 12 points while Rwenzmel Taguibolos unloaded nine hits and Leo Ordiales and Vincent Estrada each scored five points for the Builders, who fell to 1-6.
Cignal nailed the first semis seat with an 8-0 card while Iloilo is a cinch to book the next with a 6-0 mark and Cotabato looms as the next semifinalist with a 5-1 slate.
Imus, however, is in a shaky spot at 5-3 as VNS lurks behind with a 4-3 card.
