LUCENA CITY – Driven with their second round loss in mind, the Foton Tornadoes successfully vindicated themselves against the Mane ‘n Tail Lady Stallions in straight sets, 25-17, 25-22, 25-19 at the Quezon Convention Center.
As Tomasina Pam Lastimosa dictated the pace of the match with her game-high 17 points, the Tornadoes executed their gameplan splendidly and did not let Mane ‘n Tail’s offense to take off at any point. Foton honed their blocking and floor defense in on Mane ‘n Tail’s leading scorer, Royse Tubino which withheld her to just 12 points in 11 for 33 spike attempts and shut her down late in sets.
When asked about the matchup, Foton Coach, Vilet Ponce-De Leon affirmed her team’s desire to get back at the teams who beat them in the elimination round. Among those teams includes Mane ‘n Tail, who thrashed them in straight sets in the second round. “This is sweet revenge for us. That’s the motivation for the team, anytime na makalaban namin ay natalo na kami before. I thought we played really well today. Hopefully we can take the same attitude into the next game,” Coach Vilet said.
SWU’s Danika Gendrauli produced 10 points for the Mane ‘n Tail Lady Stallions who played anemicly for the fifth straight match. Since their victory against Foton in the start if the second round, the Lady Stallions have failed to win a set.
Mane ‘n Tail will figure in a classification match on Monday against the Cignal HD Spikers at the Cuneta Astrodome, while Foton will look to get back at the team that sent them to Lucena in the first place when they face the Shopinas.com Lady Clickers on the same day.
“That’s definitely a motivation for us [loss to Shopinas]. We definitely wanted to bypass the Lucena matches kasi ‘yun ‘yung pinakamaikling daan para makasama kami sa Final Four. I’m just hoping that the players bring the same sense of urgency next game,” remarked Coach Vilet.
The Scores
Foton (3) – Lastimosa 17, Tiamzon 11, Orendain 10, Araneta 6, Remulla 2, Estampa 2, Macatuno 1, Tan 0, Panteleon (L)
Mane ‘n Tail (0) – Tubino 12, Gendrauli 10, Praca 6, Mabbayad 6, Gustillo 3, Argarin 1, Desengaño 1, Dawson 1, Diaz (L), Cortel (L)
