Noel Kampton powered De La Salle University’s tight four-set win against Arellano University, 25-19, 27-25, 22-25, 30-28, in the 2022 V-League Men’s Collegiate Challenge, Sunday at the Paco Arena.
Kampton poured 27 points on 26 attacks to help the Green Spikers fend off the Chiefs in their Group A matchup.
The 6-foot-2 outside spiker out of Perpetual Help played a pivotal role in La Salle’s comeback in the fourth set, going on a personal 5-0 run late to turn a 16-20 disadvantage to a 21-20 lead. The Green Spikers eventually reached match point after JM Ronquillo converted a spike but he was called for a net violation in the following play which sent the game to a deuce.
La Salle found themselves trailing 27-28 before Kampton soared high for a kill that tied the game once more. Kim Tan committed an attack error before Nathaniel Del Pilar roofed Arman Guinto for the victory.
“With the result, happy syempre. Pero doon sa proseso kung paano nakuha yung laro medyo kailangan pang iimprove, marami pang kailangan i-workout kasi from the past mga tuneup namin ‘di ganyan kami gumalaw, kanina hinahanap ko yung chemistry,” said Green Spikers head coach Arnold Laniog, who also called the shots for College of St. Benilde earlier in the day.
“Medyo naging basing yung the way kami nag-laro kanina e, sabi ko nga sa kanila iba kasi yung tournament. Iba yung game itself na may pressure, may crowd, may referee so yun yung challenge,” he added.
Ronquillo scored 16 points to backstop Kampton while team captain Vince Maglinao had an all-around game with six points, 13 excellent receptions, and nine digs.
Diogenes Poquita delivered 22 excellent sets to go along with two points while Menard Guerrero had 22 digs and 15 receptions for La Salle.
After bagging the first two sets, the Green Spikers fell prey to Arellano in the third set where the Chiefs unloaded a 7-0 finishing kick to keep themselves alive.
Carl Berdal finished with a team-high 25 points to go along with 11 receptions and nine digs for the Sherwin Meneses-coached team. Guinto chipped in 11 while Tan had 10.
La Salle will go up against Adamson University on Sunday at 5:00 PM while Arellano will face University of Sto. Tomas on Friday at 3:00 PM.
