Imus-Ivy Tuason Photography asserted its dominance after a first set slip, finishing Vanguard in four, 23-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-20, in the 2023 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference at Paco Arena on Friday.
The AJAA Spikers, who will not have top spiker Louie Ramirez for the rest of the tournament as he will focus on Perpetual Help’s campaign in NCAA Season 98, were led by Ridz Muhali with 18 points and six digs.
Rey Taneo steered Imus with 21 excellent sets to go with his six points. On the other hand, middle blockers Kim Malabunga and Ronniel Rosales contributed 15 and 11 points, respectively.
But head coach Sammy Acaylar expressed his frustration on his team’s complacency for the second straight game, as they let the Volley Hitters come from a 22-19 hole to a first-set win.
“Of course we won the game satisfied naman ako doon but then yung pinakita kasi namin sa mga tuneup games medyo maganda pero hindi katulad dito. Siguro it’s a matter of kampante ba,” said Acaylar.
Down by three late in the first, 22-19, Vince Abrot took charge for the Volley Hitters to reverse the outcome and gave them the opener, 25-23.
But the AJAA Spikers’ response was resounding with dominant second and third frames, zooming to early leads and not letting the opposition catch up.
Vanguard sliced a once-seven-point deficit to just three in the fourth, 19-16, but Imus answered back to keep afloat and improve to 4-1 in the 11-team field.
Vince Abrot paced the Volley Hitters again with 22 points while Razzel Palisoc added 10 points as they received their fourth loss in a row to join Philippine Air Force and Santa Rosa at eighth, all at 1-4.
Both teams will next play on Wednesday. Imus faces Philippine Army at 3:00 PM. Vanguard meets PGJC-Navy at 5:30 PM.
