Petron still spotless; F2 Logistics, Sta. Lucia grab second straight

 

 

MANILA, Philippines – Petron scored another sweep while F2 Logistics and Sta. Lucia outclassed their respective foes to punch their second win in the 2020 Philippine SuperLiga Grand Prix tournament on Saturday, March 7 at FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

The Blaze Spikers continued to ride on a strong start to their title defense campaign as they swept Chery Tiggo, 25-17, 25-22, 25-21.

The reigning queens banked on import Katherine Bell, who unloaded 19 out of her 20 points from attacks while Ces Molina scored 15 points and had 5 of her squad’s 7 aces.

Petron mainstay Aiza Maizo-Pontillas had 9 points as Remy Palma tallied 5 markers.  

Coming from a strong performance in the opening set, the Blaze Spikers ended up knotted with Chery Tiggo at 18 in the 2nd frame before they unloaded 5 straight unanswered points, capped off by back-to-back kills from Molina.

Although the Crossovers momentarily held a slim 11-8 separation in the 3rd set, the Blaze Spikers quickly trimmed their deficit and Bell later delivered one from the backrow to give Petron the upperhand, 19-16, before Aiza Maizo-Pontillas provided the finishing touches.

Tatjana Bokan, who scored 33 points in Cherry Tiggo’s debut win against Marinerang Filipina, carried the offensive load with 21 points.

 

F2 Logistics edges Cignal

Despite the absence of head coach Ramil de Jesus and veteran Aby Maraño, tournament favorite F2 Logistics still got their second win of the conference over Cignal, 25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 25-15.

Import Lindsay Stalzer led the scoring for the Cargo Movers with 26 points while Fil-Hawaiian spiker Kalei Mau added 19 markers to topple Cignal, which fielded veteran skipper Jovelyn Gonzaga as starting libero.

The Cargo Movers asserted their dominance from the get-go as they used a 4-0 run capped off by Stalzer’s attack to extend their lead 19-12 in the 1st set. 

Cignal fought back and cut the lead to just one, 21-20, but Mau and Stalzer neutralized the late surge fueled by Simon to secure the set.

The HD Spikers gave the Cargo Movers another scare in the 2nd set, where they evened the score at 23. But a costly service error from May Luna cut off Cignal’s momentum as Baron sent back Liannes Castaneda Simon’s attack to avert a total collapse. 

Tides turned in the 3rd set as the HD Spikers got the lead, 17-14, all thanks to their Cuban import and the additional firepower brought by Fiola Ceballos. 

Mau, however, led F2’s fightback and scored 3 straight points to give the lead back to their side 18-17. Cignal held their ground and halted Stalzer’s late comeback efforts to survive another set. 

The Cargo Movers quickly shrugged off their 3rd set mishaps and pulled away in the 4th as Alex Cabanos extended their lead to double-digits, 21-11, after back-to-back  service aces.

Simon fired 26 markers while Ceballos added 10 points for Cignal, which missed the service of starting libero Jheck Dionela.

 

Tubino, Sta. Lucia outclass Marinerang Filipina

Sta Lucia leaned on Royse Tubino’s scoring barrage to spoil Hana Cutura and the Marinerang Filipina in 4 sets, 25-19, 21-25, 30-28, 25-20.

The Realtors neutralized the 29-point performance of Lady Skippers import Hana Cutura as veteran skipper Tubino fired 24 points while import Sheinah Joseph and MJ Phillips chipped in 19 and 15 points, respectively, for the Realtors to remain unbeaten after two games.

The Lady Skippers used an 8-0 run to get back in the game and trimmed Realtors’ lead to just one, 20-19, before Tubino sparked a counter 5-0 rally to avert a meltdown in the opening set.

Sta Lucia found itself clinging on a slim 21-19 lead in the 2nd frame after MJ Phillips hammered down a kill. 

Judith Abil, though, came through the clutch for Marinerang Filipina and scored 3 of the last 6 points to snatch away the set from the Realtors. 

The error-laden 3rd set went back and forth as Tubino and Cutura exchanged bombs late, but the veteran hitter of Sta Lucia found some help from Philips and Joseph to put the extended set in their control.

Both squads tightly tangled in the 4th before Tubino and Joseph paired up once again to give the Realtors a comfortable 23-17 advantage, just enough to later deal the Lady Skippers a 0-2 start in the conference.

The former University of the East standout Abil added 11 points for Marinerang Filipina. – Rappler.com