After a shocking collapse last Wednesday, the Petron Blaze Spikers showed their championship mettle, clinching the outright semis slot out of Group A after drilling the erstwhile-unbeaten F2 Logistics Cargo Movers, 25-16, 21-25, 25-20, 26-24, at the Muntinlupa Sports Coliseum.
Dominating the first and third sets through their starters’ sheer will, Petron nearly waltzed to the finish line after grabbing a 14-8 lead in the fourth frame. F2 Logistics slowly came back and kept erasing Petron’s two-point leads to force a deuce. Following a Michelle Morente attack error, Petron took the match in thrilling fashion with Sisi Rondina skying for a cross-court hit over two blockers to cap a long rally.
Rondina finished with 11 points, six of which came in the fourth set. Bernadeth Pons topped the Blaze Spikers with 16 points, while Mika Reyes added 13.
“Siguro nadaan na lang namin sa puso talaga,” said Petron head coach Shaq Delos Santos.
“Talagang tiniyaga namin bawat points noong dulo. Sabi nga namin na kailangan lang namin maayos ‘yung laro naman ‘pag patapos na. ‘Yun naman ang problema din namin ever since,” the national team head coach added.
Ara Galang led the Cargo Movers with 12 points, while Michelle Morente managed 10.
F2 Logistics settled for the second seed out of Group A. They take on the Sta. Lucia Lady Realtors in the quarterfinals.
The Scores
Petron (3) – Pons 16, Reyes 13, Rondina 11, Molina 10, Cortez 9, Molina 6, Agudo 2, Tunay 2, Dimaculangan 1, Palma 1, Legacion 0, Duremdes (L), Gaiser (L)
F2 Logistics (1) – Galang 12, Morente 10, Maraño 8, Barong 5, Cheng 5, Dy 4, Fajardo 3, Behag 3, Tiamzon 3, Cobb 2, Ipac 0, Ogunsanya 0, Macandili (L)
