Petron, Generika-Ayala sustain hot streaks

MANILA, Philippines – Petron and Generika-Ayala kept their hot streaks going as they crushed their respective foes in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference on Saturday, November 17, at the Caloocan Sports Complex.

The Blaze Spikers dominated Cignal HD, 25-22, 25-16, 25-19, while the Lifesavers clobbered Smart, 25-19, 25-12, 25-15, in this prestigious women’s volleyball club tourney.

Earlier, Milena Alessandrini scored 24 points while Eya Laure chipped in 19 markers as University of Santo Tomas edged Far Eastern University, 25-16, 13-25, 25-17, 25-15, in the Collegiate Grand Slam.

But still, the day belonged to the Lifesavers.

Patty Orendain delivered 18 points, 13 digs and 10 excellent receptions as Generika-Ayala captured its third straight win to climb the team standings with a 3-3 win-loss card.

Libero Kath Arado said they know Smart is such a veteran and very disciplined team so defeating it in straight set initially felt quite impossible.

“To be honest, we didn’t expect to win in straight sets. We know that Smart is such a strong team with an intact core,” said Arado, the University of the East star who has been consistently manning to backline for the Lifesavers.

“But we just did our best and we executed everything we did in practice. Those were the keys that led to this victory.”

After barging into the win column via convincing wins over erstwhile leader F2 Logistics and Sta. Lucia, the Lifesavers marched to the warpath oozing with confidence.

But after racing to a 16-9 lead in the third set, Aiko Urdas sparked a mini-rally to allow the Giga Hitters to move closer, 12-20, until Orendain restored order and towed the Lifesavers to match point.

Skipper Angeli Araneta chipped in 8 markers while Ria Meneses had 7 points for Generika-Ayala, which displayed tremendous improvement under the mentorship of former Ateneo coach Sherwin Meneses.

Grethcel Soltones tallied 6 points for Smart, which slid to 2-3. – Rappler.com