The Petron Blaze Spikers continued their challenging plod through the AVC Women’s Club Championships, surrendering their third loss of the tournament to the Chinese powerhouse Zhejiang 15-25, 14-25, 20-25 at the Ha Nam Gym in Vietnam last night.
Zhejiang had breezed through their three prior opponents before yesterday’s match. The Chinese side presented Petron with the same problems other top-tier teams had in the past few days, exploiting their height advantage and powerful serving to the fullest. Zhejiang had no problem out performing the Pinays in all offensive skills (42-24 in spikes, 10-5 in blocks, 8-2 in service aces) en route to their fourth consecutive win and the top seed in Pool A.
With several of their players on the Chinese National team pool, Li Ying and Bao Yunyun led the charge for Zhejiang with 10 and 11 points apiece as their team shuffled multiple lineups throughout the match.
Former PSL MVP, Dindin Santiago-Manabat, on the bright side, continued to thrive under the international spotlight, waxing the opposition for a game-high 14 points. Manabat had led Petron in pointa in all their previous matches, a welcome sign for Petron who looks to defend its PSL Grand Prix title this October againsg a loded field. Brazilian import, Rupia Inck paced the Blaze Spikers’ offense with seven markers.
Petron, who ended Pool action with a 1-3 slate, earned a berth into the next round of the tournament where the will face the three teams that qualified from Pool B.
The PSL-AFC titlists will face Taiwan Power of Chinese Taipei on Friday at 2 p.m. Taiwan Power topped Pool B with an undefeated record.
The Scores
Zhejiang (3) – Bao 11, Li 10, Li J. 8, Wang 8, Zhano 8, Wang N. 6, Qiu 4, Yang 3, Fan (L)
Petron (0) – Manabat 14, Rupia 7, Daquis 3, Molina 3, Maraño 2, Adachi 2, Zapanta 1, Morada 0, Reyes (L)
*Photo taken from AVC – Asian Volleyball Confederation facebook
