Petron exits with a bang, pummels Cagayan

Games Saturday:

(Cuneta Astrodome)

11:30 pm – AirAsia vs PLDT (W)

3:30 pm – PLDT vs Cignal (M)

5:30 pm – Generika-Army vs RC Cola-Air Force (W)

MANILA, Philippines – After falling short of its target, Petron vented its ire on Cagayan Valley as it carved out a masterful 25-22, 25-19, 25-23 win in the 2014 PLDT Home-Philippine Superliga (PSL) All-Filipino Conference volleyball tournament yesterday at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Dindin Santiago regained her deadly form, finishing with 21 attacks and six blocks for a total of 30 points to give the Blaze Spikers a graceful exit in the women's division of this prestigious inter-club tournament supported by PLDT Home DSL and backed by Mikasa, Asics, Mueller Tapes, Jinling Sports Equipment, LGR, Bench and Healthway Medical.

With that, Petron kissed the tournament goodbye with a fifth-place finish, not bad for a team that opened its campaign with three consecutive victories but unraveled down the crucial stretch of the single-round preliminaries where Generika-Army and RC Cola-Air Force claimed the two outright semifinal berths.

The Lady Troopers and the Raiders will clash in a sudden-death title match this Saturday.

Cagayan Valley, for its part, was relegated to sixth place.

"Not bad," said Petron coach George Pascua, assessing their roller-coaster performance in this competition organized by Sports Core with Solar Sports as official broadcast partner.

"We simply peaked too soon. We were looking good at the start but a lot of things happened. Nawalan ng maturity ang team at nawala sa tyempo si Dindin kaya medyo nahirapan kami manalo. We will work hard on our flaws during the off-season so we can come back stronger next conference," he added.

But against the Rising Suns, Santiago and the Blaze Spikers displayed a glimpse of their old, ferocious form.

Santiago, the 6-foot-2 Most Valuable Player frontrunner, wreaked havoc right from the opening serve as she unleashed a flurry of hot smashes and airtight net defense that threw the Rising Suns out of their comfort zone.

The Blaze Spikers raced to a comfortable 17-9 lead in the first set and never looked back.

"Maganda yung pinakita namin kanina," Pascua said. "Lumabas yung dating laro ng mga bata."

Janine Marciano finished with 17 points while Aiza Maizo-Pontillas had 14 markers for the Rising Suns, who fell short of their target of surpassing their fourth-place finish last conference.