Saints and Lattes-Letran bounced back, bucking a tight opening set loss to deal Maruichi Hyogo its second consecutive loss, 23-25, 25-13, 25-23, 25-20, in the semifinals of the Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference, Saturday at the Philsports Arena.
Coming off a four-set loss against National U-Sta. Elena yesterday, the Saints Spikers struggled to open the series against the Japanese squad.
However, they managed to dominate the second set and kickstart their momentum. That allowed them to take the series in four sets and move up to 2-1 in the standings tied with the Nationals.
Yuji Kawagoe tried to keep Maruichi Hyogo afloat, tying the game at 20-all in the fourth set after scoring four of the team’s last five points but it was not enough.
Vince Himzon, Lorenz Vicente, and Steven Sta. Maria joined hands in a 5-0 run to finish the game.
“Syempre nag-high pitch na ako sa kanila kahapon kasi sayang yung pagkakataon kasi kaya ring manalo kahapon,” said Letran head coach Brian Esquibel.
“Nag-respond naman sila doon sa instruction na kailangan yung middle natin ang gumana this game kasi mabibilis dumepensa yung Japanese. Kung mapapansin mo, kung taas taas lang ng bola wala kaming masyadong points na nagagawa,” he added.
Saints Spikers setter Wayne Arano heeded his head coach’s call, feeding the ball to middle blockers Himzon and Felix Bermido. Arano wound up with 23 excellent sets with two points in the one-hour, 32-minute contest.
Himzon delivered 21 points on 15 attacks, five blocks, and one service ace to bolster his team’s drive to the finals in the tournament organized by Sports Vision while Bermido chipped in 11 points.
Bem-Bem Bautista scored 15 points along with 12 excellent receptions while Sta. Maria finished with 15 on 13 attacks, two blocks, and one ace.
On the other hand, Maruichi Hyogo, who fell to 0-2, was led by Kawagoe with 24 points on 22 attacks and two aces while team captain Hinata Kuroda tallied 18 points on 17 attacks and one ace to go along with five excellent digs.
Letran will take on Cignal for the second time on Tuesday, 9:00 AM at the same venue. Meanwhile, Maruichi will face off against National U-Sta. Elena on Monday, 5:30 PM.
