All-Star matches are rarely competitive.
But the protagonists of the 2nd season of the Spikers’ Turf were out to give their fans a show as Team Galaw squeaked past Team Hataw, 25-21, 25-23, 18-25, 25-20, in an All-Star match for the benefit of the victims of Typhoon Lawin.
While the winds of Lawin were strong, there was no matching the desire in the country’s best Men’s volleyball players to put on the best performance for to give back to those devastated by the storm.
Galaw consisted of the stars of the Collegiate Conference champs Ateneo in MVP Marck Espejo, Tony Koyfman, Ish Polvorosa, and Rex Intal. Open Conference MVP IEM’s Greg Dolor supplemented the squad, together with Cignal’s Peter Torres, Ysay Marasigan, and Raymark Woo, Champions’ Geuel Asia, Air Force’s Rodolfo Labrador, and Reinforced Conference MVP Howard Mojica, and Army’s Jason Uy.
The core spiking duo of National University of Reinforced Conference Finals MVP Bryan Bagunas and Open Conference MVP Fauzi Ismail, together with Air Force’s Mark Alfafara, Jessie Lopez, Jeffrey Malabanan, and Reyson Fuentes, powered Team Hataw.
Each set was close, with the Ateneans leading Galaw in the first set and Mojica taking his turn in the second set. Hataw managed to get their bearings in the third frame, as both current and former Bulldogs showed great chemistry to force a fourth frame.
With Hataw leading the fourth frame, 19-16, a string of their own errors and miscues dislodged their momentum, allowing Galaw to take the match in a flash.
“Ang sabi lang namin sa kanila, bigyan lang natin ng maganda show ‘yung mga fans and maipakita lang ang talent naming lahat. Sabi nga namin kung pwedeng patagalin pa nang kaunti ‘yung laban pero kapag nasa court na talaga, hindi mo talaga mapipigilan na lumabas ‘yung talent ng players,” said Galaw and Ateneo head coach Oliver Almadro.
Espejo, Dolor, and Labrador each provided 10 points for Galaw. Alfafara led Hataw with 14 markers.
Almadro mentioned the desire to jumpstart a National Team program with the players from each squad.
“‘Yung 24 na naglaro diyan kanina ‘yan na ‘yung best sa bansa natin, may iba na lang siguro idadagdag. This event showed unity in Men’s volleyball and hopefully magtuloy-tuloy ‘to kasi I know we can be competitive in Southeast Asia,” Almadro declared hopefully.
The Scores
Galaw (3) – Dolor 10, Espejo 10, Labrador 10, Torres 7, Intal 6, Woo 6, Marasigan 4, Mojica 4, Asia 2, Koyfman 2, Polvorosa 2, Uy (L)
Hataw (1) – Alfafara 14, Ismail 9, Franco 7, Bagunas 6, Fuentes 6, Ybanez 6, Rojas 4, Paglinawan 2, Lopez 0, Mangulabnan 0, Chavez (L)
