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[av_heading heading=’Petron closes in on PSL Grand Prix crown ‘ 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 moved closer to the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix title after sweeping Game 1 of the best-of-three finals against F2 Logistics Cargo Movers 25-14, 25-21, 25-16 at San Juan Arena.
American Lindsay Stalzer led the scoring with 20 points – on 16 attacks, three blocks and a service ace – while fellow import Hillary Hurley added double-double 20 points and 10 digs for Blaze Spikers on Tuesday.
The All-Filipino Conference champion can sweep the season if it again defeats Cargo Movers in Game 2 at 7 o’clock tonight, still at San Juan Arena.
“Sobrang happy namin kasi iyong pinaghandaan namin, iyong game plan na ginawa namin ay nasunod,” said Blaze Spikers head coach Shaq delos Santos. “Lahat nagtrabaho, especially setters namin. Talagang lahat ng plays na ginawa niya, effective.”
From a slow start, Blaze Spikers pulled to a 12-7 lead in the opening set behind hits by Stalzer and Frances Molina. The lead grew further to as high as 11 points on conversions from Hurley and Mika Reyes for Petron to easily win the set.
Blaze Spikers had a seesaw battle with Cargo Movers early in the second set until it build a 23-18 lead on hits by Hurley and Stalzer. Cargo Movers managed to cut it to 21-23 but an off-the-block hit by Stalzer closed the set for Petron.
Blaze Spikers had a fiery start in the third as it built an 8-3 advantage but Cargo Movers showed its tough stand to come to within 10-12. Errors by Cargo Movers allowed Blaze Spikers to build an 18-10 lead and never look back.
Meanwhile, dethroned champions Foton Tornadoes salvaged a third-place finish in the tournament after a 25-17, 25-16, 25-17 win over Cocolife Asset Managers. Jaja Santiago led the way with 17 points for Tornadoes.
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