BIÑAN, Laguna, Philippines – Petron Blaze drew strength from the return of veteran Rachel Anne Daquis as it turned back Foton, 25-18, 26-24, 20-25, 25-19, last night to seize the solo lead in the 2015 Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference at the Alonte Sports Complex here.
After missing the Blaze Spikers’ 25-16, 25-18, 25-23 victory over Philips Gold in the league opener last week, Daquis rejoined the squad and provided the leadership and the hits that helped power the team to victory.
“She always motivates her teammates and provides the leadership to this team,” said Petron coach George Pascua in Pilipino referring to pretty, power-hitting Daquis.
Dindin Santiago-Manabat paced Petron with a match-best 23 hits including 20 on kills and two in blocks while Frances Molina, skipper Maika Morada and former La Salle superstar Aby Marano added 14, 11 and 10 markers, respectively.
After a tight second-set win where it had to battle back from 23-24 deficit to win the last three points, Petron missed completing a sweep as the Tornadoes, behind Nicole Tiamzon and Patty Orendain, bounced back strong to extend the match.
But Daquis combined with Manabat as the Blaze Spikers’ reasserted their might and kept the Foton side on the defensive to post the win.
Foton, with Tiamzon and Orendain combining for 43 hits, fell to 1-1 after routing Cignal, 25-18, 26-24, 25-23.