Team Dasma and Go For Gold-Air Force barged into the finals Friday night with flawless records after hurdling their respective semifinals assignments that tested their worth to dispute the Philippine National Volleyball Federation Champions League men’s championships.
The Monarchs and the Aguilas clash in a winner-take-all championship match on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Aquamarine Recreation Center in Lipa City, Batangas.
But while Go For Gold only needed to be jolted in the opening set before downing Global Remit, 26-28, 25-22, 25-18, 25-19, Team Dasma squandered a two-set lead before pulling out a 25-20, 30-28, 20-25, 21-25, 18-16 squeaker over the Manileño Spikers.
That could spell the difference between the unbeaten squads in the tourney as Go For Gold will be entering the match with much fresher legs.
“We know our system, we will just go with it. But definitely for the finals we will make adjustments,” said GFG coach Dante Alinsunurin. “There is a big prize at stake here, after all.”
Alinsunurin is not only after capturing the first ever Champions League trophy but also the right to represent the country in the Asian Clubs tournament in Iran next year.
Kim Dayandante deftly distributed the ball to Go For Gold-Air Force’s power hitters as the Aguilas struck down the Global Spikers.
National team captain Johnvic de Guzman, Lloyd Josafat, Kim Malabunga and Rueben Inaudito delivered a combined 51 points for Go For Gold, which had a wake-up call after Global stole the opening frame.
Joeven dela Vega poured in 23 points for Global, which will dispute third place against Manileño Spikers at 1:30 p.m. also on Saturday.
Team Dasma played without head coach Norman Miguel, who was quarantined on Friday for breaking health protocols. He had to undergo another antigen test and will be available on Saturday if he yields a negative result.
MRT-Negros secured fifth place by repeating over Sabong International, 20-25, 25-14, 20-25, 25-21, 15-5, in the classification match.
Christian Marcelino dropped 16 points to lead four other MRT Spikers in double-digits. Leo Ordiales and Jian Salarzon each scored 15, while Jhun Kahulugan and Gadpray Aregado made 11 and 10, respectively.
Sabong International settled for sixth place in the week-long tournament.