Cherry Rondina came up big for the Petron Blaze Spikers as the defending champions crawled back from two sets down against Cignal, 17-25, 21-25, 25-11, 25-17, 15-10, Thursday evening at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
“First two sets siyempre hindi okay para sa aking lahat pero yung bounce back na ginawa ng team nagkaroon ng kasagutan yung problema namin at lungkot nung first two sets,” said Petron head coach Shaq Delos Santos.
Rondina, who missed Petron’s game against Generika-Ayala last Tuesday due to a trip to South Korea, tallied 26 points to go along with 22 digs to lift Petron to an 8-1 slate in the 2019 PSL All-Filipino Conference.
“Sabi ko nga sa kanila nung first two sets, ‘team grabe yung eagerness nila na talunin tayo,” continued Delos Santos. “Wag natin hayaan, dapat maging mas eager tayo na talunin sila.’ Good thing nagkaroon kami ng chance maka-recover.”
Not wanting to end their two-year streak over Cignal, Petron raced to a 13-9 lead in the fifth set. A Ces Molina kill and an Aizo Maizo-Pontillas block of Mylene Paat sealed the deal for Petron.
Remy Palma continued her superb play, tallying 12 points while Bernadeth Pons added 10 markers and 22 digs.
Paat and Jovelyn Gonzaga paced Cignal with 17 markers each. The HD Spikers fell to 3-5.
Petron will next face the PLDT Home Fibr Power Hitters on Thursday, July 25 at 4:15 pm. Cignal, on the other hand, will take on the skidding Sta. Lucia Lady Realtors on Saturday at 4:00 pm. Both games will still be held at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
