The Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals haven’t tasted victory in more than a year — until the curtain opener of the new season..
The Taft-based squad leaned on fast plays and excellent service game to sweep the San Sebastian College-Recoletos Golden Stags, 25-14, 26-24, 25-21, to open NCAA Season 93 volleyball action, Thursday morning at the Fil-Oil Flying V Centre.
A strong start fuelled the Generals in the first set as they pounced on the reception woes of the Stags.
“Since dati naman hindi ako nag-aano ng mabagal na laro,” head coach Rod Palmero commented on their speed. “Hindi namin kakayanin yung mabagal lalo na maliliit players ko.”
The situation continued well into the succeeding sets, but errors from the red-shirts kept the Recto-based team in the fight. Nonetheless, heads-up plays from Mark Castellano in the second set and substitute Owen Panoy in the third sealed the win for the Generals.
Mina fired off 16 points to pace EAC, 13 of which came from attacks. Paulo Lim registered nine markers off seven kills and two blocks.
Jahir Ebrahim led the Stags with 14 points. However, the yellow-shirts coughed up 28 errors that doomed them to their defeat.
The Generals (1-0) will try to follow this win up when they take on the Arellano University on Sunday, January 7. Meanwhile, the Golden Stags (0-1) will face the Jose Rizal University on Monday, January 8.
The Scores:
EAC (3) – Mina 16, Lim 9, Ilano 8, Castellano 7, Rasing 3, Garcia 3, Panoy 2, Lumbad 0, Magadan L.
SSCR (0) – Ebrahim 14, Eusebio 10, Lana 5, Eugenio 5, Ronato 3, Lazaro 3, Ongque A 1, Ongque AC 0, Campuspos 0, Enano L, Toledo L.
