Hayley Spelman came up with a major rebound as she powered the F2 Logistics Carvo Movers to an impressive 25-16, 25-16, 22-25, 25-16 victory over the depleted Cignal HD Spikers in the 2016 Philippine Superliga (PSL) Grand Prix last Saturday at the Malolos Sports and Convention Center in Bulacan.
A former member of the United States Juniors National Women’s Volleyball Team, Spelman torched the HD Spikers with 21 kills and a pair of kill blocks for a game-high 23 points. This performance also put her back on track after her six-point effort against Stephanie Niemer and the Petron Tri-Activ Spikers in their previous match last Thursday.
Skipper Cha Cruz backed her up with 11 markers while Sydney Kemper submitted 10 hits for F2 Logistics, which obviously took advantage of the absence of Cignal’s Puerto Rican star Lynda Morales at the defensive end.
Kim Fajardo was also impressive as she dominated the playmaking department with 35 of the Cargo Movers’ 38 excellent sets while her counterpart, Shawna-Lei Santos, notched only 15 excellent sets.
The Cargo Movers also reigned supreme in attack department, 55-32, as well as at the defensive end with five blocks compared to the HD Spikers’ one.
It was the Cargo Movers’ fourth win in seven outings, putting them behind reigning champion Foton (6-0) and Petron (6-1) in the standings.
“Off ‘yung team last time,” said F2 Logistics head coach Ramil de Jesus. “So we figured out what they can and cannot do. You can see it in my rotation, I was experimenting on the things we need to adjust.”
After easily conquering the first two sets, the Cargo Movers found themselves in trouble as they fell into a maze of errors in the third set. Then, Cignal’s Janine Marciano caught fire, turning a 19-20 deficit into a slim 22-21 edge before F2 Logistics committed three straight errors to give Cignal the set victory.
However, it was a different story in the fourth set as Spelman came out firing to give F2 Logistics a 14-11 advantage. De Jesus opted to pull her out, allowing the local crew of Cruz, Mika Reyes, Aby Marano and Cyd Demecillo to do the damage and give the Cargo Movers a 19-13 advantage en route to the victory.
“There are times that you’re not familiar with the movements of your imports,” de Jesus said. “There are times that I insert the locals because the opposing team manages to anticipate the plays tendencies of our imports.”
Marciano finished with nine attacks and four aces for 13 points while Paneng Mercado had 11 markers for the HD Spikers. Meanwhile, import Laura Schaudt chipped in seven hits.
Cignal remained at the bottom of the standings with a 1-4 slate.
F2 Logistics’ (4-3) next game will be against the Foton Tornadoes (6-0) this coming Tuesday, 5:00 pm, at the Imus Sports Complex in Cavite while Cignal (1-4) shall go up against the RC Cola Army Lady Troopers (2-4) also this coming Tuesday, 3:00 pm, at the said venue.
The Scores:
F2 Logistics (3) – Spelman 23, Cruz 11, Kemper 10, Marano 7, Reyes 7, Fajardo 5, Galang 3, Demecillo 2, Baron 0, Macandi0i (L).
Cignal (1) – Marciano 13, Mercado 11, Schaudt 7, Delos Santos 3, Santos 3, Bernal 2, Paat 1, Vivas 1, Patilano 0, Laborte 0, Dionela (L), Cortel (L).
