Jet Spikers foil Lady Maroons

PHILIPPINE Air Force needed a wake-up call before unleashing its feisty form again in the Shakey’s V-League Season 13 Open Conference Monday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Shaking off a slow start, the Jet Spikers pounced on the youthful University of the Philippines, 27-25, 25-19, 25-17, to grab a share of the lead with a perfect 3-0 record.

“We played like we’re on diesel,” veteran open spiker Judy Ann Caballejo said of the Jet Spikers, who rallied from 18-22 in the first set to set the tone for the sweep.

“It’s good we were able to overcome our errors and we came back in the first set.”

Proving yet again they have a lot in their arsenal, a different player starred for the third straight game as Jocemer Tapic unloaded a game-high 15 points built on eight kills, three blocks and half of the Jet Spikers’ eight aces.

Caballejo added 14 points, 12 coming off attacks, to lift the Jet Spikers, who joined idle Pocari Sweat as the only unbeaten sides in the eight-team field.

Cignal also raced to its third straight win after blasting Philippine Navy, 25-22, 25-13, 25-15, in the Spikers’ Turf-2 Open Conference.

Ateneo standout Ysay Marasigan paced the HD Spikers anew with 11 points as they peppered Navy, 43-31, in attacks.

“We just want to start aggressive and get the confidence we will need in bigger battles ahead,” said Cignal coach Michael Carino, who steered the HD Spikers to the Reinforced Conference crown last year.

The Lady Maroons and the Sailors remained winless in two games.