STA. Elena moved closer to the Premier Volleyball League finals with a 25-20, 24-26, 25-22, 30-28, win over No. 2 seed Cignal in the opener of the men’s division semifinals on Saturday at The Arena in San Juan.
Edward Camposano scored 22, Berlin Paglinawan added 13 and Kurl Rosete had 12 for the Wrecking Balls.
Army sent No. 1 seed Air Force crashing with a 25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 25-20 win in the other semifinal.
It was a big win for Sta. Elena, which absorbed a four-set loss to the HD Spikers at the end of the elimination round on Tuesday.
“The moment na natapos ang game namin last time, we evaluated the team’s performance,” said Sta. Elena coach Arnold Laniog.
“Noong talo namin noong nakaraan masasabi namin na hindi kami nag-perform.”
Laniog urged his wards to step up and load on their service to counter Cignal’s hard spikes.
“Sa training sabi ko, ’tatalunin natin ang Cignal’” he said. “Kasi doon sa last game namin, sa na-evaluate namin, may mga run kami na talagang nahirapan din ang Cignal. Which is kapag kumarga ang service namin nai-stop namin ang highball hitters nila.”
Mark Alfafara and Ysay Marasigan made 17 and 15 markers, respectively, for Cignal.
Romnick Rico led the way for the Troopers with 17 points, all from attacks, Lemuel Arbasto scored 14 and Benjaylo Labide added 12 markers.
Army exacted revenge on Air Force after a straight-set loss in the elimination round.
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