By: Bjorn Del B. Deade
Philippine Air Force dealt new squad RichMarc Sports 3B a rough debut, 22-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-23, to open the 2024 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference on a high at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum on Wednesday.
The Airmen were holding a 16-13 lead midway through the fourth set. But then the Elite Spikers uncorked a 6-3 spurt, capped by Mel De Guzman’s off-the-block kill, knotting the game at 19-all.
Gideon Guadalupe’s down-the-line hit pulled the Elite Spikers within one late, 23-24,.
But Pol Salvador fired a through-the-block kill that sealed the victory for the Airmen in one hour and 53 minutes.
Air Force head coach Jeffrey Malabanan said he had to remind his young team about controlling their attacks and staying with the system throughout the game.
“Medyo nakalimutan ng attackers namin [ang sistema]. Ang ginawa ng mga attackers namin e puro power na naman ang ginawa nila. So siyempre, dahan-dahan, kailangan may variation yung palo. Hindi atake lang nang atake,” Malabanan said.
Bryan Jaleco paced the Airmen with 21 points built on 18 attacks.
Meanwhile, Pol Salvador and Ahmad Abdul chipped in 14 points each.
Ron Villegas controlled the floor for Air Force, tallying 20 excellent sets.
Elite Spikers Kurl Rosete and Guadalupe scored 19 and 14 markers, respectively.
Air Force will look to notch their second win against PGJC-Navy at the same venue on Sunday at 4:00 PM.
“I-diretso lang namin yung sistema na ginagawa namin sa team namin and then kung ano yung magiging adjustment namin, siguro sa later part na. Kasi bago parang bago pa lang kami,” Malabanan.
RichMarc Sports will look for its first win on Sunday as well against the reigning champion Cignal.
