Adamson-Davies Paints took care of Santa Rosa City in four sets, 25-15, 25-16, 16-25, 25-21, for the share of lead in Pool C of the Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference at the Paco Arena, Sunday.
The Soaring Falcons dominated the first two sets but tripped in the third before closing the hard-fighting Lions in the fourth frame to tie Cignal at the top spot with 2-0 records.
“Goods naman. Syempre, hindi pa talaga ganun ka-matured yung team. May mga times talaga na darating sa ganung situation, pero na-manage naman siya with the help ng mga second six namin,” said Adamson head coach George Pascua.
Fresh from a disappointing third loss in the third set, the Soaring Falcons mustered all their strength to finally fend off Sta. Rosa in the fourth frame with Mark Coguimbal emphatically blocking Gadpray Aresgado to ignite a 3-0 rally that widened a 20-19 lead to a 23-19 advantage.
Hero Austria traded hits with Francis Casas, who put Adamson at match-point with a searing pipe attack before Coguimbal botched a service error that kept the Lions within reach.
Guttierez, who capped off the previous run by also blocking Aresgado, dealt the fatal off-the-block hit that sent Sta. Rosa to its third consecutive loss to open the tournament.
“Yung maturity, oo makukuha nila ‘yan dito. Kasi malaking bagay na makasali kami dito kasi nga yung mga kalaban namin mga UAAP at mga beterano, so iba pa rin talaga yung mga beterano. Sabi ko nga, yung learning is nandoon, so dapat yung winning attitude nandoon din,” added Pascua.
John Gay, who was not fielded back in the fourth set, still posted a team-high 13 points on 11 attacks and two blocks while Casas tallied 11 points on 10 attacks and one block after an hour and 46 of play.
Jude Aguilar and Marc Paulino each chipped in 10 points in the victory while Coguimbal had five blocks to finish with nine markers.
Adamson looks to strengthen its playoff bid versus St. Gerard Construction-Benilde on Sunday, 11:00 a.m at the same venue.
Hero Austria paced the winless Sta. Rosa with 16 points on 14 attacks and two aces to go along with 14 excellent receptions while Aresgado added 11 points, including four kill blocks as the Lions dropped to 0-3 in Pool C.
Sta. Rosa will get a much-needed two-week break before taking on Coast Guard to revive its playoff bid on November 22, 5:00 p.m.
