Nicole Tiamzon dropped a game-high 19 points as her Foton Tornadoes waylaid the Shopinas.com Lady Clickers in straight sets, 25-17, 25-17, 25-17 at the San Juan Arena.
Foton’s second leading scorer, Patty Orendain, also managed to reach double digits with 13 markers as the Tornadoes forged a heavy 39-20 spike advantage over their foes.
Foton battled through early errors and a two-point deficit to eventually take the lead, 12-9, behind Nicole Tiamzon’s powerful attacks. Tiamzon extended the Tornadoes lead to five, 16-11, with a service ace. Another ace from Dzi Gervacio put Foton at a comfortable 20-13 advantage before Shopinas’ La Sallians responded to trim the cushion to four, 20-16. From there, the Lady Clicker offense crumbled as Nicole Tiamzon continued to bulldoze through theit blocks. Shopinas won only a single point in the final stretch of the opening set as Foton closed them out easily.
The Lady Clickers again got off to a good start in the second set, taking a 3-0 lead until their own attack errors gave Foton free points to easily whittle down the Lady Clickers’ advantage. Foton managed to climb with relative ease as Shopinas continued to pile up errors. Foton’s two top scorers, Patty Orendain and Nicole Tiamzon easily navigated Shopinas’ defense and gave them a late four-point advantage, 21-17. From there, Patty Orendain lit it up from the service area, helping her team take all the following points for their second set win.
Foton again did a masterful job of bombarding the Lady Clickers in the final set of the match. As Shopinas managed a 10-7 lead, Foton quickly stormed back behind the trio of Lastimosa, Orendain, and Tiamzon, who netted Foton’s first lead of the set which lasted them through until they claimed the match.
Though Nicole Tiamzon has been lighting up the league, Foton Coach Vilet Ponce-De Leon, emphasized that her team has no stars. “That’s her [Nicole Tiamzon] role and everybody on the team each have their own role. Ang maganda kay Nicole is she’s very coachable and she knows all of our plays. There’s no pressure on her,” remarked Coach De Leon.
Foton now rises to second place in the standings, tied with Shopinas with a 2-1 record.
The Scores:
Foton (3) – Tiamzon 19, Orendain 13, Araneta 7, Lastimosa 6, Remulla 4, Macatuno 1, Gervacio 0, Mendez 0, Factor 0, Panteleon (L)
Shopinas.com (0) – Cruz 5, Mercado 5, Dy 4, Laborte 4, Tan 3, Tiu 2, Mandapat 2, Hingpit 1, Eguia 1, General (L), Sison (L)
