Quick to rebound from a first loss, Petron turned back Foton, 26-24, 22-25, 25-19, 25-21, in the final round of the Belo Philippine Superliga (PSL) Invitational Conference Friday night at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.<\/b>
Quick to rebound from a first loss, Petron turned back Foton, 26-24, 22-25, 25-19, 25-21, in the final round of the Belo Philippine Superliga (PSL) Invitational Conference Friday night at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
Veteran Aiza Maizo-Pontillas led the Blaze Spikers with 15 kills while Frances Molina, Mina Aganon and Mika Reyes also delivered key contributions.
The Blaze Spikers\u2014who brushed off Thursday\u2019s heartbreak against Cignal when they absorbed their first loss in six games\u2014will next take on Kobe Shinwa Women\u2019s University of Japan on the last day of the women\u2019s club tournament.
The Japanese squad, which clobbered the Tornadoes in four sets late Thursday, was battling Cignal at presstime.
Molina, Aganon and Reyes teamed up for 35 points to provide Petron ample firepower.
\u201cWe\u2019re so thankful because we won our second game in the final round,\u201d said Petron coach Shaq Delos Santos. \u201cWe believe that anything can still happen. We\u2019re facing a strong team [on Saturday]. We\u2019ll do everything to win over them.\u201d
Meanwhile, an erratic Cocolife squad found its rhythm in the fifth set to overcome Sta. Lucia Realty, 25-23, 23-25, 25-17, 12-25, 15-11, in the classification battle.
Rose Vargas and Michele Gumabao provided the fireworks in that torrid rally down the stretch to put Cocolife a win away from a fourth-place finish in this women\u2019s club tourney.
Vargas spearheaded the assault with 18 kills for a game-high 20 points while Gumabao nailed 18 markers for the Asset Managers, who played the Japanese squad in a friendly match in preparation for this important clash.
\u201cOur tuneup game with the Japanese team helped,\u201d said Cocolife coach Obet Javier, the architect of Arellano University\u2019s rise to NCAA women\u2019s volleyball stardom.
Javier said they were in control in the deciding set, although there were some minor turbulence in the first few sets.
\u201cWe were playing relaxed at first,\u201d he said. \u201cBut in the end we gained control.\u201d
True enough, the Asset Managers had a roller-coasterrun in the first four frames, allowing the Lady Realtors to stretch the match to a deciding set.
After the Lady Realtors knotted it at 11, the Asset Managers proved steadier in the endgame as Vargas shattered the deadlock with an attack off the block before foiling the attempt of Rialen Sante for a 13-11 advantage.<\/p>\n