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[av_heading heading=’Petron snaps Foton bid, enters Grand Prix finals ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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MANILA – Petron Blaze Spikers ended Foton Tornadoes’ two-year reign with a 30-28, 22-25, 25-23, 25-21 win in the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix semifinals at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Lindsay Stalzer led the way with 25 points while fellow import Hillary Hurley added 24 markers – 21 attacks, two blocks and an ace – for Blaze Spikers, which will face F2 Logistics Cargo Movers in the best-of-three finals.
Blaze Spikers had a slow start in the opening set Saturday night as it trailed 14-18 before mounting a huge run to force several deadlocks. With Tornadoes ahead 28-27, Blaze Spikers unloaded 3 straight points from Stalzer and Hurley to snatch the set.
After dropping the second set, Blaze Spikers encountered trouble early in the third before finally surging to a 21-19 lead on a Stalzer hit. Tornadoes cut the deficit to one several times but Blaze Spikers turned to Stalzer late in the set to take a 2-1 edge.
It was a seesaw battle anew for both teams in the fourth set with the scores tied at 13-all. Blaze Spikers slowly pulled away to build a 24-19 lead. Tornadoes rallied to within 21-24 before committing service errors that allowed Blaze Spikers to seal the win.
“Talagang competitive ang Foton. Kailangan namin ng mahabang pasensya at tiyagain bawat point para manalo,” said Blaze Spikers head coach Ceseal delos Santos. “Para sa amin, malaking achievement na iyong nag-knockout game kami at kami ang nanalo.”
Meanwhile, Cargo Movers made a quick work of Cocolife Asset Managers 25-17, 25-16, 25-17 to advance to the finals for the second time in franchise history.
Venezuelan import Maria Jose Perez led the way with 18 points while American Kennedy Bryan chipped in with 13 markers for Cargo Movers./PN
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