In her third match in as many days, Mane ‘n Tail’s Royse Tubino had her way with Foton’s defense as the Lady Stallions took care of the Tornadoes in straight sets 25-22, 28-26, 25-19 in the first match of the second round of eliminations in the Philippine Super Liga All-Filipino Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
A Former NCAA MVP, Tubino drew most of her team’s sets resulting in a sensational 23 point outing. Tubino was also incredibly clutch as most of her points came late in the sets when Foton attempted to steal momentum.
Mane ‘n Tail had no problem gathering momentum early as they took a 9-3 lead in the first set. Foton quickly countered as their contingent of UAAP stars led an 8-0 run, giving them a momentary advantage, 11-3. The Lady Stallions slowly climbed back when Tubino began to pound away at Foton’s defense. In addition to the uncharacteristic errors from Foton’s top scorers, Mane ‘n Tail reclaimed the lead late 24-21; thanks to a 5-0 run punctuated by three Royse Tubino kills. Tubino drove home the first set’s last point off a beautiful set from Arianne Argarin. Foton ended the set with 13 errors.
Tubino took her dominance straight into the second set after her solo 3-0 run allowed the Lady Stallions to break away 10-7 which Foton immediately answered with a 3-0 run of their own. Both teams continued to trade string of attacks until Mane ‘n Tail took a seemingly decisive 22-19 lead Sam Dawson and Lilet Mabbayad’s attacks, Tubino crushed an attack down the line landing Mane ‘n Tail at set point, 24-21. However, attacks from Foton’s Tiamzon-Orendain-Lastimosa trio allowed them to force a deuce. They may have taken three set points, but Mane ‘n Tail eventually got the job done after Sam Dawson and Danika Gendrauli finished off consecutive long rallies.
In the final set, Mane ‘n Tail’s other attackers keyed them to an early 10-6 lead. An Abby Praca quick attack gave the Lady Stallions a huge 16-10 lead. Foton nibbled the lead down to as much as three but their top scorer, Nicole Tiamzon went cold for the entire set and Foton did not have an answer for Royse Tubino, who scored four points in a late run that placed her team at a 23-17 advantage. Tiamzon ended the match with two consecutive attack errors.
An emotional Mayi Prochina was proud that her team finally showed its mettle after a turbulent first round. “Masaya lang kasi talaga ako kasi naipakita na nila sa wakas ‘yung gusto nilang ilaro,” Prochina said in tears.
Mane ‘n Tail notched just their second win in six matches. After rattling off three consecutive wins, Foton now finds itself in a two-game slide that brought them down to third place in the standings.
Foton will look to break out of it slump when it faces Petron on Thursday while Mane ‘n Tail stakes its newly found confidence against Shopinas on the same day.
The Scores:
Mane ‘n Tail (3) – Tubino 23, Gendrauli 11, Dawson 10, Mabbayad 5, Praca 5, Argarin 2, Gustillo 1, Amad 0, Cortel (L)
Foton (0) – Lastimosa 14, Tiamzon 10, Araneta 5, Estampa 5, Orendain 5, Macatuno 3, Remulla 2, Factor 0, Velasquez 0, Acevedo (L). Panteleon (L)
