Savouge spiker earns POW honors

Savouge found a megastar in outside spiker Shawie Caritativo.

The unheralded hitter came off the bench and unleashed a sensational performance to lead the Spin Doctors in a shocking upset over star-studded Cignal that shook the 2024 Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference.

After limited action in Savouge’s first two games, Caritativo delivered a monster performance in upending title favorite HD Spikers in a stunning 19-25, 27-25, 19-25, 25-23, 15-13, five-set win on Wednesday at the Ynares Sports Arena.

The pride of Rosales, Pangasinan fired a game-high 19 points, all of which came from attacks, against the reigning Open Conference champs to power his squad to a franchise-best 3-0 start in the tournament organized by Sports Vision.

“Everyone has the talent to get into the first six, but whoever shines in training, will surely get a spot in the first six. Us on the bench, we’re ready to step up whenever our numbers are called,” Caritativo said.

“It was an overwhelming win. Cignal has a lot of Alas Pilipinas [players] but we see them as players just like us. We don’t see them as star players,” he added.

Caritativo only had a combined total of 12 points in Savouge’s first two wins against Martelli Meats and VNS, but his exploits against the HD Spikers proved to be enough for him to secure the Spikers’ Turf Press Corps Player of the Week presented by Pilipinas Live for the period of 16 to 27 October.

The 23-year-old winger was the unanimous choice for the weekly honor deliberated by print and online media covering the league, edging out Criss Cross’ Jude Garcia and the FEU-DN Steel pair of Dryx Saavedra and Mikko Espartero.

Using his family and friends as motivation, Caritativo, a holdover from last conference’s Spin Doctors squad, is determined to make the most of the opportunity to play in the Spikers’ Turf, especially after missing his chance to play in the NCAA.

He was actually on track to play for the University of Perpetual Help under former Savouge head coach Sammy Acaylar post-pandemic, but circumstances beyond his control forced him to stop his studies, eventually ending his dream of playing at the collegiate level.