AEP-Cabstars weathered tense moments in the opening two sets before unleashing a strong finishing kick in the third to defeat Alpha Insurance, 26-24, 25-23, 25-20, and move within one win of securing the bronze medal in the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference 2026 on Wednesday at the Filoil Centre.
The Cabstars displayed poise and composure to survive the early pressure, then turned what appeared to be another tight exchange in the third set into a convincing victory. A decisive late run powered them to a straight-sets win in Game 1 of their best-of-three battle for third place.
Trailing 17-18 late in the third frame, the Cabstars refused to back down. Dave Lardizabal, Jay Rack De La Noche and Nas Gwaza sparked an 8-2 closing surge to bring the team within reach of its first-ever podium finish in the tournament organized by Sports Vision.
“Maganda ang ipinakita ng mga bata. Siguro nag-decide lang kami na gusto naming manalo this Game 1, so pinakita lang nila kung ano ‘yung kapasidad nila bilang isang player kaya naging maganda ‘yung result (The players showed a great performance. I think we simply decided that we really wanted to win Game 1, and they just demonstrated their capabilities as players – that’s why we got a good result),” said AEP-Cabstars head coach Kitty Antiporta.
“Nakakalungkot kasi hindi kami pumasok ng Finals, pero okay lang ‘yun kasi marami kaming natutunan dun at sa mga games namin na nadala namin this game (It’s disappointing that we didn’t make it to the Finals, but that’s okay because we learned a lot from that experience and from our previous games, and we were able to carry those lessons into this match),” he added.
De La Noche led the Cabstars with 20 points built on 18 attacks, a block and an ace, while also contributing seven excellent digs. Jared Schnake added 13 points along with nine excellent receptions, while Lardizabal chipped in 10 points from seven attacks, two kill blocks and an ace.
Paul Malaiba and Gwaza chipped in eight points each.
Setter EJ Casana orchestrated the offense with 28 excellent sets, while Vince Lorenzo anchored the defense with 15 excellent digs and 19 excellent receptions.
The Cabstars will go for the series’ clincher in Game 2 on Friday at 3 p.m. at the same venue.
Meanwhile, Alpha Insurance continued to struggle, suffering its fourth straight loss.
Jau Umandal paced Alpha Insurance with 15 points, while Edward Camposano added 13 markers and 17 excellent receptions.
