Jau Umandal and PGJC-Navy bucked an error-plagued opener to take down Army-Katinko Oil in four sets, 20-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-18 in the 2022 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference, Thursday at the Paco Arena.
Umandal dropped a conference-high 29 points on 26 attacks, two aces, and a block to go along with 10 excellent receptions and seven excellent digs in just four sets to help the Sea Lions bounce back from a tough five-set loss against National University-Sta. Elena last Tuesday.
“Yung first set kasi nag-adjust pa sila. Parang yung talo namin sa NU nandiyan pa sa kanila nung first set so pressured yung first set namin kanina kaya sinabihan namin sila na medyo mag-relax muna,” said PGJC-Navy head coach Cecil Cruzada.
“Sabi namin ‘di naman nila kailangan mapressure sila sa laro kasi kaya naman nila at pinagensayuhan namin yung mga gagawin,” she added.
The Sea Lions had a rough first set, falling to a 3-10 deficit against the Junjun Taneo-led Troopers, who eventually took a 25-20 win.
After calming their nerves, PGJC-Navy – who lost Joeven Dela Vega in the second set due to a left ankle sprain – answered back by taking the next two frames to take a commanding 2-1 lead over Army-Katinko Oil.
Umandal then led the Sea Lions’ assault in the fourth, scoring two consecutive points to give PGJC-Navy an eight-point advantage, 19-11. From there, the Sea Lions never looked back and ran away with a 25-18 victory capped off by a powerful hit from Umandal off a combination play.
Middle blockers Ronniel Rosales and Peter Quiel provided 10 points each for the Sea Lions while Christian Marcelino and Omar Lioc added nine markers apiece to help hike PGJC-Navy’s record to 2-1.
EJ Casana glued things together with 33 excellent sets while Vince Lorenzo and Jack Kalingking gathered 29 excellent receptions and nine excellent digs, respectively.
The Sea Lions committed 29 errors in the match but managed to make up for it in the attacking department where they finished with a total of 62.
On the other hand, Troopers team captain Ben Labide finished with 13 points while PJ Rojas and Madz Gampong, who played his first game for Katinko Oil-Army, supplied 11 and nine points.
The Troopers remained winless in three games.
PGJC-Navy will go up against the league-leading Cignal om Tuesday at 5:30 PM while Army-Katinko Oil will face Ateneo-Fudgee Barr on Saturday also at 5:30 PM.
