System Tooth and Gum Care sustained its fiery form, subduing former UAAP champion Far Eastern U, 29-27, 26-24, 25-18, last night to grab the solo lead in the men’s division of the Shakey’s V-League Season 11 Third Conference at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The Active Smashers kept their poise in a nip-and-tuck first two sets before delivering a strong statement with a tremendous third set to improve to 3-1 ahead of idle Instituto Estetico Manila.
The win boosted Systema’s bid for the first finals seat in the compact, double-round four-team tournament. Systema also prevailed over FEU in five sets in their first round meeting.
The loss left the Tamaraws with a mountain to climb in their campaign for a finals berth as they dropped to last place with a 1-3 record.
In the second game, Army zoomed to its fourth straight win in as many starts in the women’s division after drubbing Meralco, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 25-19.
Meralco has yet to win in four matches.
Sylvester Honrade starred for the Active Smashers, coming up with six blocks on his way to a game-high 14 points, while Salvador Depante, Chris Antonio and Angelo Espiritu combined for 27 hits.
It was Honrade’s blocking that spelled the difference in a tightly fought first two sets with the veteran rising to the challenge in crucial moments.
Systema leaned on Antonio and Espiritu on their way to picking up 40 points off spikes. Honrade’s blocking propelled Systema to a 10-8 edge in the key category.
Confident with the depth of his squad, Systema coach Arnold Laniog rotated 13 players to keep the Tamaraws guessing. Also instrumental to the win was the performance of Systema setter Al-Frazin Abdulwahab, who accounted for 19 of the team’s 34 excellent sets.