Michael Imperial orchestrated Emilio Aguinaldo College’s rout of Colegio de San Juan de Letran, 25-19, 25-18, 25-17, to wrap up their NCAA Season 95 Men’s Volleyball opener in a convincing manner, Friday at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
“Malaki, malaki para sa morale ng team kasi siyempre may mga bagong mga players lalo’t may mga nawala kaya malaki. Itutulak nila ‘yan sa pinakakaya nila lalong lalo na mahaba pa ‘yung panahon namin para mag-prepare sa mga susunod na games,” EAC head coach Melchor Santos said.
The Generals had a slow start to the contest, struggling to build momentum early on. That, until Imperial weaved his magic to get things going for Joshua Mina and Danrich Melad, who put up double-digit offensive outputs to dispatch the Knights in 72 minutes.
“Start palang medyo mababa kasi kinapa namin ‘yung Letran kasi bago pa eh. Ang bagal ng start namin kasi puro bago rin mga players ko,” Melchor added.
Imperial set the tone for EAC. He tossed 21 excellent sets to generate the offense for the Generals, who outspiked Letran, 42-25. He also rained down five of his team’s seven aces to end up with six markers, on top of eight digs.
Mina top-billed with 16 points anchored on 13 attacks and two blocks, while Melad dealt most of his 15 markers in the attacking department with 13.
Aeron Daduya then provided the added firepower to backstop EAC’s scoring duo. He tallied a pair of kill blocks to finish with nine markers. Defensive specialist Earl Magdan delivered on the other end, contributing 17 excellent receptions and 14 excellent digs.
On the other hand, the Knights were held below twin-digit territory despite having seven spikers on the charts.
Mhel Gabuyo topped Letran with seven points, as Christopher Cistina and Angel Canzana managed six markers apiece.
EAC tries to make it two in a row when it faces the win-hungry Mapua Cardinals next. Meanwhile, Letran seeks to get on the right track when it collides against St. Benilde. Both matches will be played on Monday, January 20, at the same venue.
