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Saturday, March 30, 2024

Petron tries to sustain sizzling PSL start

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Reigning champion Petron seeks to sustain its sizzling start when it battles dangerous Generika-Ayala when the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference rolls back to the Filoil Flying V Centre today.

Action fires off at 6 p.m. following the collisions between Foton and Cignal at 2 p.m. and F2 Logistics and Sta. Lucia in the 4:15 p.m. second match of this club tourney bankrolled by Isuzu, Sogo, Senoh, Asics, Mikasa, Mueller, UCPB Gen, and Bizooku.

After a solid buildup in the off-season, the Blaze Spikers were off to a roaring start as they crushed the young Cocolife squad, 25-18, 25-15, 25-18, in the opener of this league that also has ESPN5, Hyper HD and Aksyon TV as broadcast partners.

Veteran Aiza Maizo-Pontillas made her presence felt while Frances Molina displayed her deadly form to underscore her full recovery from the injury that that sidelined her in the Asian Games and AVC Asian Women’s Cup couple of months ago.

Pontillas tallied 14 points while Molina had 10 hits for the Blaze Spikers, who took full control of the match from start to finish.

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Molina said they may be the reigning titlists, but they are marching into the games without any pressure.

“Although we’re the defending champions, we’re playing without any pressure and we’re just here to enjoy the game,” said Molina, the skippers this powerhouse Petron side.

“We have always prepared for every opponent and we are ready to give our best shot every game.”

The Lifesavers, however, will not be easy foes.

Despite absorbing a 25-20, 21-25, 14-25, 25-19, 5-15 loss to Foton, Generika-Ayala displayed traces of improvement, thanks to their vaunted floor defense engineered by liberos Kathleen Arado and Bia General as well as quality defenders like Patty Orendain, Bang Pineda and Fiola Ceballos.

The only setback they had against the Tornadoes were their turnovers, especially in the crucial stretch of the match.

“Petron is a powerhouse squad. We have to work on our turnovers if we want to prevail over them,” said Generika-Ayala coach Sherwin Meneses, whose wards gave away 42 points to the Tornadoes off their errors.

Also tipped to go all out are the Cargo Movers, who are raring to regain the crown that the Blaze Spikers snatched from them last year.

Bannered by Aby Marano, Cha Cruz, Kim Fajardo, Kianna Dy, and Majoy Baron, the Cargo Movers will march in full force and take advantage of the depleted Sta. Lucia squad, which is still missing the services of injured Filipino-American spiker Mar-Jana Philips.

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