Army marked its 126th founding anniversary with a hard-fought five-set escape over AFP Olympics rival Air Force, 23-25, 26-24, 18-25, 25-22, 20-18, on Wednesday to stay in the semifinal hunt in the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference at the Paco Arena.
Mark Enciso produced a huge 26-point performance on 24 attacks and two blocks while Benjaylo Labide added 16 markers and 10 excellent digs as the Troopers improved to 3-5 (win-loss) while booting the Airmen out of the semifinals race with a 1-7 slate.
PJ Rojas also stepped up for Army and fired 15 points in the grueling two-hour, 20-minute match.
The Airmen actually moved to match point first at 14-13 on a Rojas’ missed crosscourt attack. But the Troopers challenged the call on a block touch and proved successful, thus forcing a tie instead.
They kept it tied at 18 before Jessie Lopez and Nino Jeruz committed consecutive net violations that enabled the Troopers to steal the win.
“Sabi ko sa kanila kailangan nilang tibayan lalo na sabi ko, regalo na nila sa Army kasi yung pride pa rin ng Army, ‘di ba? Anniversary pa namin sakto, ng Army, 126th anniversary namin,” said Army coach Melvin Carolino.
“Yung effort nila, kapag hindi sila nag-trabaho nang maayos, hindi sila nag-receive, hindi sila nag-blockings, ‘di talaga kami mananalo. Buti maganda yung pinakita nung fifth set,” he added.
It was a tough climb for the Troopers, who lost the first and third sets but snatched the second frame and hung tough in the fourth before out-steadying the Airmen in the marathon decider.
Rodolfo Labrador and Edwin Tolentino paced the Airmen, who suffered their fifth straight loss, with 26 and 25 points, respectively.
