Davies-Adamson prevailed in an exhausting first set duel that took 46 minutes to finish and came out of a tense second set defeat with enough gas left in the tank as it carved out a 39-37, 23-25, 25-17, 25-18 victory over St. Gerrard-Benilde in the Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference at the Paco Arena in Manila Sunday.
In a match marked by a number of momentum swings and which put accent on endurance, the Soaring Falcons summoned their energy in the last two sets to secure the hard-fought victory, their third straight that kept them in step with the fancied Cignal HD Spikers in Pool C play of the four-division tournament featuring six teams in each group.
“Actually, pinag-ensayuhan naman namin ‘yan. Kung mapapansin mo wala si coach George (Pascua), kung ano yung binilin niya yun naman ang ginawa namin eh. Na yung endurance ng player kailangan namin palakasin,” said Soaring Falcons assistant coach Fritz Santos.
Francis Casas paced Adamson with 17 points on 15 attacks and two blocks, while John Gay added 16 points and 10 excellent receptions and Jude Aguilar also scored 16 points on 13 attacks, two aces and one block.
Pascua is currently in the US to attend a coaching clinic.
Benilde slipped to 1-1 in a tie with idle Saints and Lattes-Letran for third, enabling Cignal and Adamson to zero in on the two slots in the quarterfinal phase. Santa Rosa and Coast Guard, the other teams in Pool C, are out of the race with 0-3 slates but could still play the spoiler’s role against the contending teams.
Arnel Aguilar led the Blazing Builders with 18 points and 13 excellent digs.
Meanwhile, Alpha Omega turned back the Bayleaf Hotels-LPU, 25-22, 25-21, 19-25, 25-18, in the other game to snap a two-game in Pool D of the tournament organized by Sports Vision.
“Masaya naman ako sa pinakita ng mga bata pero nag-rerelax sila pag lamang. Nakuha na namin yung first two sets pero nakita naman natin yung nangyari nung third set, ‘di ba? Kayang kaya naman then suddenly nag-relax,” said Alpha Omega coach Edjet Mabbayad.
Anfernee Curamen took charge for the Elite Spikers with 13 points on 11 attacks and two blocks while team captain Kim Tan added 12 points that went with 12 excellent receptions.
On the other hand, Jun Edang came up with 14 points on 11 attacks and three blocks while Earl Polis had 12 points on nine attacks, two aces and one block for the Pirates, who fell to 0-3.