JAJA Santiago dropped 15 points as Ageo Medics beat Kurobe Aquafairies, 23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23, for its first win in the Japan V.League on Sunday.
Santiago nailed 14 attacks out of 25 attempts and delivered a kill block to help Ageo Medics bounce back from a three-set defeat to Toray Arrows in last Saturday's opener.
The 6-foot-5 Filipina, in her third straight season as import of the Saitama-based squad, played efficient in their first two games with an above 50 percent attack rate against the former teams of her elder sister Dindin Santiago-Manabat.
Manabat played for Kurobe last year and reinforced Toray in the 2018 season, but her contract was not renewed for this V.League season.
Former Sta. Lucia import Shainah Joseph missed the first two games of Ageo Medics as she just finished her 14-day quarantine. The Canadian is expected to team up with Santiago next week when Ageo Medics take on Victorina Himeji on October 24 and Hisamitsu Springs on October 25.
Meanwhile, Oita Miyoshi got swept by JT Thunders in back-to-back matches without import Bryan Bagunas to open its men's V.League campaign.
The Weisse Adler missed the fire power of Bagunas as he is currently undergoing a 14-day quarantine after arriving last October 7.
JT Thunder dominated Oita Miyoshi on Saturday's opener with a 25-13, 25-20, 25-19 victory and took the early 2-0 lead with a 25-16, 25-17, 25-16 conquest on Sunday.
Bagunas is expected to make his 2020 season debut on October 31 against FC Tokyo after his 14-day quarantine ends on Wednesday.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
