Calado glows in Savouge debut

Mark Calado made a rousing introduction by drilling in 15 points to power Savouge to a 25-23, 25-20, 25-13 win over undermanned PGJC-Navy on Friday in the 2025 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

Formerly with Cignal, Calado played a vital role in taking the straight-set win as the Spin Doctors overcame a tightly-contested first set before dominating the next two, claiming an early advantage in the tournament organized by Sports Vision.

“I’m super happy, of course. Every coach wants to see their players succeed,” said Savouge head coach Sydney Calderon. “I didn’t set huge expectations for him because I didn’t want to put too much pressure on him.”

Sherwin Caritativo provided strong support with 12 points (eight attacks, two kill blocks and two aces), while Deanne De Pedro contributed eight for the Spin Doctors, who built on their third-place finish in last year’s Invitational Conference, demonstrating their defensive strength and powerful service game.

Savouge dominated the net with 13 kill blocks and added six aces, while the Sealions struggled to keep up, managing seven blocks and failing to register a single ace.

“This was just our first game, and we don’t have a finalized lineup yet,” added Calderon. “We experimented with different combinations to test our chemistry, and so far, the results have been positive. We were still adjusting in the first two sets.”

PGJC-Navy fielded only 11 players, missing key contributors Joeven dela Vega, Marvin Villanueva and Kevin Liberato. The Sealions’ offensive struggles were evident, with team captain Greg Dolor leading with just nine points, while Herald Domingo added six, and both Omar Lioc and John Ashley Jabo finished with five each.