In a battle between two winless teams, Fourbees-Cavite Patriots came out on top, defeating IEM Volley Masters in four sets, 25-23, 20-25, 30-28, 25-21, Thursday morning at the San Juan Arena.
Both teams split the first two sets, with the Patriots taking the first, and the Volley Masters taking the second. IEM tried to steal away the first, getting to within 1, 24-23, before Fourbees-Cavite put the nail in the coffin. Frustrated with losing the first set, IEM went all out in the second. IEM held a slim 13-11 lead, but blitzed the Patriots with a 3-0 run to hold a 16-11 lead entering the second technical timeout of the set. At that point, the Volley Masters never looked back as they tied the set at 1-1.
The third set was as intense as any set could get. IEM led for the majority of the set, but Fourbees-Cavite never gave up, nipping at the heels of the Volley Masters’ lead all-throughout. It looked like the Volley Masters had the set in hand when they held a 24-21 lead, but the Patriots launched a 3-0 barrage that tied the set for Fourbees-Cavite. From there, both teams started trading points, with Karl Dela Calzada leading the way for IEM. With the score at 28-27 for IEM, Julius Sioson scored on a cross-court spike that tied the set for Fourbees-Cavite. Unable to gather any momentum, IEM committed costly errors as two consecutive Kirk Beliran errors gifted the set to the Patriots.
With a 2-1 set advantage, it seemed the Patriots didn’t want to extend the match any longer, as they went on an early 4-1 advantage at the start of the set. Things didn’t get any better for the IEM squad as Fourbees-Cavite jumped to a bigger lead, 18-12 via a Sioson spike. The big deficit, coupled with the third set loss seemed to deflate IEM as they were unable to match the intensity of the Patriots, leading to Fourbees-Cavite taking their first win of the conference.
IEM took control of the offensive statistics, as they held a scoring advantage on spikes, 65-53, and blocks, 9-6. Despite this advantage, the outcome of the game was decided on consistency. Fourbees-Cavite committed less errors compared to their counterparts, 21-35. The Patriots also had more excellent sets, 51, compared to the Volley Masters who had 37.
Fourbees-Cavite’s next match will be against Champion Infinity on Sunday, May 10. IEM, on the other hand, will try to get their first win of the conference when they go against PLDT Home Ultera on Tuesday, May 12.
The Scores:
Fourbees-Cavite (3) – David 17, Sioson 17, Ytorzaita 11, Doliente 10, Coming 8, Abcede 1, Catipay 1, Kalingking (L), Baroy (L)
IEM (1) – Dela Calzada 23, Canlas 17, Jimenez 15, Beliran 6, Tamayo 5, Raymundo 4, Timbal 4, Banang 1, Conde 1, Almario (L)
