Joeven Dela Vega took over as PGJC-Navy vented its ire on Philippine Air Force, 25-21, 25-21, 25-18, for its first victory in the 2024 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference, Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Coming off a deflating 25-17, 25-16, 27-25 loss to Cignal to open the tournament, Dela Vega, who scored 14 points in the previous match, posted a team-high 20 points on 16 attacks, three blocks, and one ace to help the Sealions enter the win column with a 1-1 card.
“Very responsive naman sila. Kagaya nung mga lapses namin, na-ensayo na namin. At the same time, yung game plan na sumunod lang sila kasi nung first game namin medyo ano sila eh, anxiety kumbaga,” said Navy head coach George Pascua.
The Airmen managed to stay toe-to-toe against the Sealions in almost every department, but the latter feasted on the former’s miscues which proved to have been the deciding factor in the one-hour, 19-minute match. Air Force tallied a total of 28 errors in the game.
“Very satisifed naman ako, pero syempre mas kailangan pa namin na patibayin pa yung mga weaknesses namin and mag-improve pa sa next game,” added Pascua.
Louie Pudadera ran the offense smoothly, tallying 20 excellent sets to go along with two points while Jack Kalingking took charge on defense with 15 excellent receptions and five excellent digs.
John Jacob added 10 markers on nine attacks and one block while team captain Greg Dolor had nine markers for Navy.
PGJC-Navy will next take on Maverick on Wednesday, 4:00 p.m. at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
On the other hand, Bryan Jaleco breached the 20-point mark for the second consecutive time, scoring 20 points on 18 attacks and two blocks to go along with 17 excellent receptions for Air Force, this time in a losing effort.
No other player reached double figures for the Airmen with Ahmad Abdul and Pol Salvador chipping in six points each as the Airmen slid to 1-1.
Air Force will try to bounce back versus Iloilo on Friday, 4:00 p.m. at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
