Japanese belles crush Blaze Spikers in three

MANILA, Philippines - Reigning champion Hisamitsu Seiyaku Springs of Japan crushed Petron with its power game as it cruised to a 25-5, 25-16, 25-12 victory in the 2015 AVC Asian Club Women’s Volleyball Championship at the Ha Nam Competition Hall in Phu Ly, Vietnam late Tuesday.

With Serbian reinforcement Tatjana Bokan and national team mainstays Yuki Ishii and Miyu Nagaoka on the firing end, the Japanese needed only an hour and seven minutes to dispose of the Blaze Spikers, who lost to the North Koreans in the opener but bounced back with a three-set win over the Iranians.

The Blaze Spikers wrap up their pool play assignments against Zhejiang of China late Wednesday before competing in the classification match for a fifth best finish Friday.

But Petron faces another uphill battle against Zhejian, led by its former national team members and seasoned international campaigners. In fact, it pulled off a five-set conquest of mighty Japan Monday to remain unscathed in three games.

Bokan delivered 13 kills and three blocks to finish with 16 hits while Ishii and Nagaoka chipped in eight and five points, respectively, while starring in that sizzling first set rally that broke the backs of the Blaze Spikers.

Veteran Yumi Mizuta was also impressive with eight kills for a total of 11 points.

“Playing against these Asian superstars was a great experience for us,” said Petron coach George Pascua. “We may have lost the game, but we won a lot of experience which we could use when we compete in the PSL Grand Prix next month.”

The Japanese jumped the gun early and brandished their flawless game to race to an early 8-1 advantage in the first technical timeout.

Skipper Maica Morada managed to squeeze in a kill to give Petron its second point, but Nagaoka, Ishii and Bokan fired back with nine straight hits to put Japan way ahead, 17-2.

“I told them to target the Japanese spikers from the service box to throw them out of their comfort zone,” Pascua said. “But that plan also didn’t work. The Japanese libero was everywhere. That team was so good and so disciplined to be beaten just like that.”