A VERY strong Petron team showed up and made short work of rookie team Smart, 25-12, 25-14, 25-17, yesterday to remain immaculate in the Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga Grand Prix at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
The tandem of Hillary Hurley and Lindsay Stalzer fueled the Blaze Spikers’ offense in tabbing its third consecutive win in this prestigious club tourney bankrolled by Isuzu and UCPB Gen with ESPN5 as official broadcast partner.
Hurley nailed 12 kills and two aces for 15 points, while Stalzer chipped in 11 kills and two blocks for 14 points for the Blaze Spikers, who maintained the lead with their third consecutive victory in this battle that also has Senoh, Mueller, Mikasa, Asics, Grand Sport and LGR as technical partners.
Petron coach Shaq Delos Santos lauded his wards’ effort, saying that it will serve as morale-booster for their blockbuster battle against reigning champion F2 Logistics tomorrow.
“This win is a good morale-booster for our match against F2 Logistics this Saturday,” said Delos Santos, who is looking to avenge their sorry setback to the Cargo Movers in their best-of-three finals showdown last year.
“While we’re hopeful that we can maintain our good form, we also want to level up our game and work on our weaknesses because we’re facing a champion team in F2 Logistics. We’ll treat the match as if it is a championship game.”
Against the Giga Hitters, the Blaze Spikers were simply at their best.
Their brightest moment came in the second set when Mika Reyes, Frances Molina and Stalzer erected a defensive fortress at the net, leaving Smart’s high-flying import Gyselle Silva of Cuba bleeding at the attack zone.
Silva, who erupted for 33 points in their previous match against Cocolife, was held to only 23 points as she failed to draw enough support from the locals.
Smart’s other import, Serbian Sanja Trivunovic, was set to arrive later in the day and will formally see action when the Giga Hitters collide with Foton on Tuesday at the Malolos Sports and Convention Center in Malolos City.