The Philippine Air Force went ahead 1-0 in their best-of-three semifinals series against the Instituto Estetico Manila (IEM) Volley Masters in the Open Conference of Spikers’ Turf 2016, Wednesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
Even though they dropped the first set, 22-25, the Airmen bounced back to take the set next three sets, 25-18, 25-22, 25-23.
Air Force head coach Rhovyl Verayo rued his squad’s lack of teamwork, especially in the opening set.
“Marami pa ring kulang, [lalo na] nu’ng first set. Nagkanya-kanya ‘yung players. Parang ‘di sila naglaro as a team,” said coach Verayo. “Kaya nga sabi ko lahat ng teams dito is cometitive so hindi namin kailangan ma-kumpiyansa sa next game namin sa Saturday.”
The opposing sides were tied at 10 apiece when Air Force made a 15-8 run, capped by a Reyson Fuentes drop shot and two unforced errors by IEM.
In an erratic third set, the Volley Masters committed six unforced errors after the second technical timeout to lose, 22-25. IEM committed a total of 44 errors, compared to the Airmen’s 27.
Air Force and IEM were tied at 22-all in the fourth set when a combination attack by top-scorer Fauzi Ismail, and miscues by Edan Canlas and Karl Dela Calzada, bailed the Airmen out, 25-23.
Fauzi had 18 points off 15 attacks and three blocks, while Dela Calzada and Greg Dolor combined for 24 points for IEM.
The Philippine Air Force will try to finish the race-to-two semifinals series on Saturday at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
“Mas maganda, matapos namin kaagad [‘yung series] para mas mahaba ‘yung pahinga ng mga bata,” said Verayo.
The Scores:
Air Force (3) – Ismail 18, Labrador 14, Mojica 9, Malabanan 5, Fuentes 4, Lopez 1, Tolentino 1, De Ocampo 1, Avila 0, Chavez (L).
IEM (1) – Dela Calzada 12, Dolor 12, Canlas 11, Jimenez 10, Canlas 10, Lozada 3, Gatdula 2, Pirante 1, Timbal 0, Refugia 0, Ramos (L), Melgar (L).
