Unlike Army’s season opener in which they narrowly took a five-setter against the IEM Volley Masters, the Troopers showed better on-court communication, sweeping the Café Lupe Sunrisers, 25-20, 25-18, 25-19, Saturday afternoon at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
“Okay naman yung jelling ng team kasi yung volleyball naman dito sa atin maliit lang yung circle. Mabilis naman sila naka-adapt sa sistema,” Army head coach Rico de Guzman said about their second win of the season.
Benjaylo Labide, Jayvee Sumagaysay, and Michael Reyes were dominant all throughout the game, scoring eight markers each. Romnick Rico chipped in seven points.
“Last year pa yung huling tournament na sinalihan namin. About sa team ko, una nag-trai-training pa yung iba kaya humingi ako ng tulong sa UST at La Salle,” De Guzman furthered. “Kondisyon naman yung mga player namin sa Army tapos yung mga estudyante galing naman sa UAAP.”
But setter Timothy Tajanlangit was the glue guy that made it all work for Army, as the University of Santo Tomas Tiger Spiker dished out 25 excellent sets in the game.
“Sabi ko sa setter ko, parehas lang play ng UST at Army kaya hindi ka mahihirapan,” shared De Guzman, who is also serving as assistant coach for the Pocari Sweat Lady Warriors.
Making matters worse for Café Lupe was the 33 errors they committed.
Joshua Barrica paced the Sunrisers with nine points. Kevin Liberato added eight markers.
Army will next face the mighty Cignal HD Spikers on Tuesday, May 16, at 1:00pm. Café Lupe hope to snap their two-game slide when the face the same team on Tuesday, May 9, at 1:00pm.
The Scores:
Army (75) – Reyes 8, Labide 8, Sumagaysay 8, Rico 7, Delos Reyes 4, Tajanlangit 3, Abdulmajid 2, Baloaloa 1, Torres 1, Depamaylo 0, Uy (L), Bayking (L), Opp Errors 33.
Cafe Lupe (57) – Barrica 9, Liberato 8, Sioson 4, Ocampo 4, Sebastian 2, Meneses 2, Doliente 2, Evangelista 1, Hizon 1, Ebrahim 1, Reolalas 0, Chua (L), Flores (L), Opp Errors 23.
