National U-Sta. Elena’s Nico Almendras. –SPIKERS TURF PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–National U-Sta. Elena turned back VNS-One Alicia, 25-17, 20-25, 25-21, 27-25, to complete a sweep of the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference semifinal round on Tuesday at Paco Arena in Manila.
The Nationals recovered from a second set loss and hung tough against the pesky Griffins in the final set to get the confidence-boosting win heading into the best-of-three finals series which opens on Thursday.
“Credit to my players, they did their best, played within the system,” said NU-Sta. Elena coach Dante Alinsunurin. “They played a little bit relaxed the last time out (against Navy) but at least we still got the win.”
Nico Almendras exploded for 26 points, all but three from kills, for NU-Sta. Elena. Obed Mukaba and Mike Buddin added 14 and 13 points, respectively.
“Hopefully, this win will help us, so that we can keep going in the finals,” said Almendras in Filipino. “This also gave us the momentum, especially for my teammates.”
The Nationals will play either Cignal or PGJC-Navy in the championship round.
Kevin Montemayor finished with 14 points to lead VNS-One Alicia, which was already out of the running for the finals berth after losing two games in the round-robin semis.