AVC Championship: Petron Blaze dominated by Japan in 3 sets

MANILA, Philippines – The Petron Blaze Spikers fell to 1-2 in the 2015 AVC Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship after getting dominated by Hisamitsu Springs from Japan in 3 sets, 25-5, 25-16, 25-12, on Tuesday, September 15, at the Ha Nam Competition Hall in Phu Ly, Vietnam.

The Blaze Spikers, who are also using the tournament as preparation for the upcoming 2015 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix, entered the contest having won their previous day’s matchup against Azad University from Iran, 25-8, 25-16, 25-13.

Petron lost their opening match against the April 25 Sports Club from North Korea, 25-13, 25-18, 25-11.

After getting decimated in the first set by 20 points, Petron put up a stronger fight in the second set but still trailed most of the way. They got within 3, 17-14, thanks to the strong play of Rachel Daquis, although the Japanese were able to rack up a few consecutive scores to regain momentum and eventually win the set.

Japan raced off to an 11-5 lead in the third set and cruised the rest of the way to a win.

Dindin Santiago-Manabat led Petron with 7 points, while Daquis and Aby Marano had 3 points each. Bokan from Japan was the game’s leading scorer with 16 points.

Petron was out-spiked, 42-20, out-blocked, 10-4, and committed 16 errors that resulted to points for their opponents.

The Hisamitsu Springs had 72 excellent digs and 56 excellent sets.

Petron will end their preliminaries campaign against unbeaten Zhejiang from China on Wednesday, September 16.

Only the top 4 from each pool will advance to the quarterfinals. Petron currently stands in fourth place in Pool B. – Rappler.com