It’s still early in the conference, but Jaja Santiago is proving that she is a cut above the rest
The 21-year-old spiker punched in 35 markers, towing the Foton Tornadoes past the Generika-Ayala Lifesavers in four sets, 25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 25-15, Saturday evening at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
“Jaja is an important player for us in this All-Filipino,” said head coach Moro Branislav, who had given Santiago limited minutes in their opening match against Cherrylume last Tuesday.
The 6-foot-5 spiker had 30 kills in the contest to go along with two blocks and three aces, with her last two coming from back-to-back aces that gave Foton a 21-12 lead in the fourth set. She was subbed out afterwards.
“As you see we have seven new players. We have a new setter. This is very difficult for us. I’m glad Jaja is there to help us pull it through,” the Serbian mentor added.
Ej Laure chipped in 16 points, 13 coming from attacks.
But the Tornadoes struggled to break away from the Lifesavers during the first two sets. Their errors mounted in the third set, committing a total of 13, that gave Generika a chance to comeback.
“We had no mistake, no big number of mistake in the fourth set,” he said, adding that they committed 13 errors in third set alone. “We had only one mistake (in the fourth set) if I am correct.”
The win raised Foton to the top of Group B with a 2-0 slate, while Generika-Ayala dropped to an even 1-1.
Patty Orendain paced the Lifesavers with 13 points and Angeli Araneta added nine markers.
Foton will play their final game of the round on Tuesday, June 13, when they face the Cocolife Asset Managers at 7:00pm. Generika-Ayala, on the other hand, looks to end their opening round on a high note when they take on the Cherrylume Iron Lady Warriors on Thursday, June 15, at 5:00pm. The latter will take place at the Strike Gym in Bacoor City.
The Scores:
Foton (3) – Santiago 35, Laure 16, Ortiz 7, Rosario 5, Berte 5, Guliman 2, Perez 1, Negrito 1, Guino-o 0, Doria 0, Torres 0, Reyes (L), Yongco (L).
Generika-Ayala (1) – Orendain 13, Araneta 9, Ceballos 8, Casugod 6, Adorador 5, Lopez 5, Cortez 4, Masangkay 2, Buite 1, Cerveza 1, Legacion 0, Arado (L), General (L).
