Barbie San Andres made an impressive debut for Alpha Insurance to stun back-to-back bronze medalist Savouge, 19-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-22, in the Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference on Monday at FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
With Savouge threatening to force a decider after tying the third set at 23-all, San Andres scored the go-ahead spike before Billie Anima blocked Mark Calado to reach match point, 24-22. Shawi Caritativo’s attempt went off the mark as the Protectors opened their campaign, prevailing in two hours and 16 minutes.
San Andres and Anima also stepped up in the end game of the third as the former sent Alpha to set point twice before Anima’s block on Charlee Magpayo for a 2-1 advantage.
San Andres, who last played for the defunct D’Navigators last year, delivered 19 points, 11 excellent receptions, and nine digs. JJ Javelona and Vince Himzon had 12 and 11 points, respectively. NCAA Season 100 rookie MVP Rocky Motol chipped in 10 points and 11 digs.
‘Our mindset is that when we take the lead, we hold onto it. So when the other team starts to catch up, we remind ourselves, this is ours, we can’t let it slip away. Once we’re ahead, we tell ourselves the win is within reach, and we can’t let it go, especially during the crucial parts of the game,’ said San Andres.
Anima had six blocks to finish with eight points to start their campaign on a high note before facing Cignal on Wednesday at Paco Arena.
‘We’re trusting the process. Last conference, we really lacked preparation, but coming into this one, we had a much better buildup,’ said coach Mike Santos. ‘We also recruited some strong, talented players, so we really focused on our training this time. But hands down, Savouge is a great team. It just so happened they made a lot of errors, and we were able to take advantage of that.’
Savouge was led by Calado, who had 20 points, and Caritativo with 19, including six consecutive points midway through the fourth set only to fall short.
Norwel Sanama had 13 points, as they try to bounce back against Far Eastern University on Wednesday.