MANILA – F2 Logistics Cargo Movers moved closer to bagging the 2018 Philippine Superliga Invitational crown with an 18-25, 25-23, 20-25, 29-27, 18-16 win over Petron Blaze Spikers in Game 1 of the finals at the San Juan Arena.
Victorinara Galang led the way with 18 points on Thursday night.
Mary Joy Baron and Ilongga Abigail Marano added 15 and 10 points, respectively, for the Cargo Movers which can clinch the trophy with a win in Game 2 tonight.
The Cargo Movers showed its resilience in the series opener. It erased the Blaze Spikers’ 2-1 set lead and hung on tight in the fifth set with Baron nailing the two winning points to draw the first blood.
“I just told my players this is a championship game. They have to show who they are and the national team players have to prove they are deserving of that spot,” said Cargo Movers head coach Ramil De Jesus.
Galang gave the Cargo Movers a 13-10 advantage in the fifth set only for her teammate Kim Kianna Dy to commit a service error. Blaze Spikers’ Cherry Rondina’s hit cut it down to one, 13-12.
But Galang stopped the bleeding and put her team at match point, 14-12, only for Desiree Cheng to overcook an attack and got blocked by Mika Reyes that Blaze Spikers to force a deuce before Baron came to the rescue.
Negrense Bernadeth Pons and Mika Reyes finished with 14 points apiece while Ilongga Aiza Maizo Pontillas chipped in 13 hits for the Blaze Spikers, which hopes to force a do-or-die game on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Cignal HD Spikers shut down its campaign on a sizzling note. It dominated Smart-Army Giga Hitters, 25-15, 22-25, 25-20, 25-18, in the battle-for-third place match.
Rachel Anne Daquis fired 14 kills, two aces and two blocks to finish with 18 points for the HD Spikers, which went undefeated in the preliminaries before suffering a sorry straight-set loss to the Cargo Movers in the semifinals./PN
