DINDIN Santiago-Manabat scored a crucial point in the fourth set to tow the Petron Blaze Spikers past the Foton Tornadoes, 25-13, 25-21, 23-25, 26-24 (4-1) as the Blaze Spikers tied the series to a win apiece in the best-of-three finals in the 2015 Philippine Super Liga Grand Prix last night at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Santiago-Manabat blocked May Macatuno for a 25-24 lead, and a miscue on the other end on Kathlee Messing’s placement shot sealed the win for the Blaze Spikers, who arranged a win-or-go-home Game 2 at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
“Na-penetrate namin and backcourt nila kaya nakalamang kami. Malakas din ang opensa nila,” said Blaze Spikers coach George Pascua.
Rupia Inck Furtado led the Blaze Spikers with 25 points, 24 off spikes, including a placement shot that hit the center court to tie the match at 24-all. She had earlier scored three straight points to get Petron back from a 19-22 deficit to a 22-all tie.
Abigail Marano had 16, with her kill past Jaja Santiago and Angeli Araneta keeping the Blaze Spikers in the thick of the fight.
The Tornadoes took Game 1, 14-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-22 behind Lindsay Stalzer’s all-around game.
This time around, however, the Blaze Spikers kept their focus on Stalzer, who still managed 23 points, but was neutralized by Petron’s defense in the final set.
“We targeted Stalzer so she could not penetrate,” added Pascua.
Stalzer had seven points in the third quarter, where she led the Tornadoes to a 16-10 advantage.
Petron tied the score anew, 18-all on Messing’s out of bound spike.
The Tornadoes, however, took the third set, 25-22, off Stalzer’s attacks.
Pascua said it’s the championship experience of the team which will help Petron survive Game 3.