By Adrian Stewart Co

Jaja Santiago had a solid outing but Saitama Ageo Medics suffered a 26-24, 25-23, 23-25, 18-25, 15-11 defeat to Denso Airybees in the 2021-22 Japan V.League Division 1 women’s tournament on Sunday at the KitaGas Arena in Sapporo.

The former National University Lady Bulldogs star tallied 23 points, on 18 attacks, four blocks, and a service ace, as the Ageo Medics saw its winning run snapped to drop to 5-5 win-loss slate.

After both teams split the first four sets, the Airybees raced to a 9-4 start in the fifth set behind conversions from Fumika Moriya, Yuki Hyodo, Mami Yokota, Rei Kudou, and Roslandy Acosta.

Santiago carried the cudgels for the Ageo Medics as they trimmed the deficit to 9-11 but the Airybees relied on clutch conversions from Hyodo and Kudou to avoid the collapse of Denso.

Leading the balanced scoring for the Airybees (7-3) was Hyodo with 20 points, all from attacks, while Acosta and Yokota chimed in 19 points each with the latter guarding the net well with six block kills.

Aside from Santiago, Mami Uchiseto tallied 15 points while Shuri Yamaguchi and Kyoko Aoyagi also hit double-digits in scoring as they chalked up 11 points apiece for the Ageo Medics.

Meanwhile, Bryan Bagunas and the Oita Miyoshi Weisse Adler cannot follow up to its thrilling win on Saturday as it bowed to JTEKT Stings, 25-18, 28-26, 25-18, on Sunday at the CNA Arena Akita.

Bagunas, a former National University Bulldogs standout, ended the game with 12 points, going 48 percent in his attacks as he failed to tally a block or a service ace as his squad dropped to 2-8.

Felipe Fonteles was on the forefront of JTEKT’s attack with 16 points on 12 hits, two blocks, and two service aces, while Kento Miyaura added 13 points to move up to 6-4 in the standings.

Aside from Bagunas, Emerson Rodriguez also hit double figures in scoring for the Weisse Adler as he ended up with 16 markers./ASC, WDJ