With the departure of ace spiker Pemi Bagalay, the Mapua Institute of Technology Cardinals displayed their well-balanced offense as they swept the Jose Rizal Heavy Bombers, 25-22, 25-15, 25-20, Wednesday morning.
Head coach Mario Mia Jr. was pleased to see his wards out-muscle JRU on the attacks with 33 spikes coming from different players.
“Last year kasi meron kaming ace player. Mostly si Bagalay lang. Ang kaibahan ngayon from last year is maraming puwedeng mag-score,” the Mapua mentor said.
Team captain Anjo Perterria led three Cards who scored 9 points, three coming from blocks. Mark Egan and Alfredo Pagulong were the two others.
Mapua also stamped their height advantage getting seven blocks as opposed to JRU’s two. Nonetheless, the Heavy Bombers got some lift from their service, scoring five aces.
Despite the win, coach Mia expects the Cardinals to do better in the upcoming games, especially on the first ball deliveries.
“We have a character na serve-receive team kami, hindi kami nakakareceive. Tapos, sabi namin magserve kami ng hard, nage-error. So yun yung kailangan naming ayusin,” he shared.
Ron Dampitan led the Bombers with 7 points, while PJ Sulivas delivered 3 of the team’s 5 aces.
The Scores:
MIT (3) – Pertierra 9, Egan 9, Pagulong 9, Andaya 5, Hizon 3, Navera 3, Damian 2, Evangelista 1, Vargas 1, Dais 0, Bondoc 0, Canlas L.
JRU (0) – Dampitan 7, Sulivas 5, Lahaylahay 4, Estacio 3, Rabaja 3, Cebrero 2, Sioco 1, Castillo 0, Cruz 0, Ferwelo 0, Defensor L, Flor L.
