MANILA, Philippines—Jau Umandal and Rex Intal, who came from two different teams last year, led AMC Cotabato Spikers to an impressive debut in the 2023 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference after sweeping the VNS Griffins in straight sets, 25-21, 25-16, 25-23, on Friday at Paco Arena.

Umandal scored all of his 12 points in the first two sets as the Cotabato Spikers took a commanding 2-0 lead in dominant fashion. But the Griffins took advantage of coach Odjie Mamon’s second unit in the third set, threatening to extend the match with a 20-17 advantage, which forced the latter to field back its starters Umandal, Intal, and setter Kim Dayandante.

Lloyd Josafat conspired with Intal to bring back AMC on top with four straight points for a 23-21 lead but the former halted their run with a service error. Intal drilled his quick attack to put his new team at match point, 24-22, before Raven Buslig saved a point but the ace middle blocker completed their third set comeback with a clutch kill, ending the 91-minute game.

Umandal, who played for Navy last season, had an efficient game, hitting 10 of his 18 attack attempts and having nine excellent receptions out of 14 tries, while Intal had a stellar first game with the Cotabato Spikers, tallying nine points built on four attacks, three aces, and two blocks after parting ways with his longtime club Cignal.

“I can see that my players are enjoying but I had to call a timeout in the third set to call them out that the game is not all about enjoyment. We have to correct that and make sure that they will keep their focus,” said AMC coach Odjie Mamon in Filipino. “We’ll have two days to prepare for our next game. I will teach them the system and remind them of our pattern.”

Josafat and Madz Gampong were also instrumental despite playing only in the first and third sets as they contributed eight and six points, respectively. Dayandante distributed 14 excellent sets as Fauzi Ismail, Wewe Medina, and Jayvee Sumagaysay added five points each.

AMC gave up more errors, 26, compared to VNS’ 16 miscues. The Cotabato Spikers dominated the attacking with a 41-28 disparity, a 12-4 edge in blocking, and 6-2 in service aces.

Buslig was the lone bright spot for the Griffins with 12 points, while Ron Medalla only scored seven kills out of 22 attempts.