BACARRA, ILOCOS NORTE — With their glaring height advantage against PLDT, Sta. Lucia head coach Eddieson Orcullo made sure to maximize two of his greatest weapons on Monday at the PCV Socio-Civic Cultural Center here.
And they are none other than the 5-foot-11 Mika Reyes and the 6-foot-3 Dell Palomata.
“Ngayon nag focus talaga kami sa yun nga yung block and at the same time yung middle namin kailangan ma-maximize namin.
“Kasi yung middle sa kabila medyo may advantage kami sa height, may advantage kami sa contact, so yun ang unang plan talaga na dapat gawin, ma-maximize namin yung middle,” said Orcullo.
The move definitely paid dividends as Sta. Lucia, after dropping its debut match against defending champion Creamline, scored its first ever win in the Premier Volleyball League after a 25-18, 25-15, 25-21 sweep of PLDT.
Palomata ended up as the second-best scorer for the Lady Realtors with 12 points built on nine attacks, two blocks, and an ace while Reyes delivered 11 points in the win.
Back in their opener against Creamline, the former Air Force middle blocker was held to just six points while the La Salle product only had three markers.
“Actually lahat, maayos yung game. Yung buong team maayos naman yung nilaro pati yung mga nasa labas nag trabaho rin sila,” added Orcullo.
Sta. Lucia went up to a 1-1 standing and will go up against Chery Tiggo at 3:00 PM on Wednesday.
