Iloilo came back from a tough five-set loss the first time out with a resounding 25-16, 25-17, 25-18 victory over Don Pacundo-DLSU Dasmariñas as the D’Navigators steered back in the hunt in the Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference at the Paco Arena in Manila on Friday.
Like in the first two frames, the D’Navigators broke away from a tight battle midway through the third with newly-inserted middle blocker Rash Nursiddik combining with Renz Engay to lead the charge en route to the clincher in Pool A play.
“Talagang kumpleto hanggang dulo ng bench. Pinaghandaan talaga namin ito kahit sinong ipasok sa kanila sinabi ko kailangan magtrabaho sa loob,” said head coach Boyet Delmaro, whose wards absorbed a sorry 25-21, 14-25, 19-25, 25-22, 12-15 defeat to the Army Troopers last week.
Iloilo sustained its dominant run from start to finish, winning in just 78 minutes behind its superb control of the net that saw the D’Navigators produced 11 blocks against the Patriots’ one.
Nas Gwaza accounted for four of those and finished with eight points, while Kyle Villamor backed him up with eight markers.
Madz Gampong had seven points in a two-set stint while Paolo Doronilla also wound up seven markers as JM Apolinario orchestrated the D’Navigators offense for the first two frames and finished with 12 excellent sets.
Popoy Alabin and Paul Malaiba scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Patriots, who fell to 0-2
Up next for Iloilo will be Perpetual-Kinto Tyres on Nov. 8, while DLSU-Dasmariñas, which also yielded a 0-3 result to Fudgee Barr-Ateneo last Oct. 20, will face fancied Sta. Elena-National U on Nov. 10.