Missile-toe triumphs

Missile-toe’s En Hong Pang, right, spikes the ball over All Set’s Bryan Chlarson, left, and Jericho Castro, during the second set of their title game in the 2019 Agape Christmas Volleyball Tournament last Saturday at the Agape Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Missile-toe survived a pair of three-set games in the playoff round to rule the 2019 Agape Christmas Volleyball Tournament last Saturday at the Agape Multipurpose Gymniasum.

Missile-toe, which was led by siblings En Yang and En Hong Pang and also had Tychicus Xu, Jason Wang, Dawei Cai, and Mark Puno on its roster, clinched the men’s division championship after rallying past All Set in a thrilling finale, 19-25, 25-16, 15-12.

All Set drew first blood in the title game, leading by as much as 10 points in the first set, 24-14. However, it took All Set a while before earning the set point, as Missile-toe mounted a late comeback in an attempt to steal the game. Missile-toe scored five straight points capped by En Hong’s spike over two All Set blockers. All Set eventually withstood Missile-toe in the opener with Jeff Riman setting up Jericho Castro for a corner kill that crossed over an empty back sideline of their opponents.

With All Set winning the first set and threatening a sweep, Missile-toe, this time in the second set, got off to a good start and was in the lead in the first half of the match before the former forced the last deadlock in that period, 15-all. Missile-toe then finished off the set with a 10-1 scoring surge to remain in title contention. En Hong wrapped up the second set win by leaping high for an overhand serve and scoring an ace to send the finale to a third set.

In the decider, All Set got the first possession and Castro served. His heave was too wide over the backline, serving as a bad omen for All Set, as Missile-toe countered with three straight points and seemed in control of the final set before getting a late scare from the former.

With En Hong still hitting those booming spikes, his brother, En Yang, scoring on a couple of tricky placement shots, and the lanky Cai also helping out in the net, Missile-toe built an 11-4 lead in the third set. However, just when people were expecting Missile-toe to cruise to victory, All Set regrouped and moved within one, 12-13. Bryan Chlarson scored All Set’s eventual last point, as he deceived En Hong in their battle on the net, going for a tap instead of a spike, as the latter attempted to block the shot.

After the defensive miscalculation, En Hong answered with a spike that went over Chlarson and Castro, moving Missile-toe one point away from securing the division title. There was a brief exchange after En Hong’s shot, delaying Missile-toe’s claim to the championship until the way taller Cai engaged Chlarson in a joust and won to close out the finale.

The three-set victory in the title game was Missile-toe’s second straight, as it also survived the then unbeaten We Will Deck Your Halls in the semifinals, 19-25, 25-20, 17-15.

Before losing to Missile-toe, We Will Deck Your Halls was unscathed in the pool play, earning an 8-0 record after beating Scintillating Reindeers, Young and Restless, Silent Knights, and Santa’s Helpers twice in the pool play. We Will Deck Your Halls was seeded No. 1 in Pool A and faced Pool B No. 2 finisher Missile-toe in the semis.

Missile-toe, All Set, and Jingle Balls finished pool play with similar 6-2 slates and organizers broke the tie on points system. All Set won the tiebreak and took the No. 1 seed in Pool B, which also had New Kids on the Block and Naughty Santas, while Missile-toe got the last semis ticket. All Set then reached the finals after sweeping Young and Restless in their Final Four showdown, 25-18, 25-19.

All Set’s Jericho Castro, third left, bumps the ball while his teammates look on during the second set of their title game against Missile-toe in the 2019 Agape Christmas Volleyball Tournament last Saturday at the Agape Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)