Taiwan adds to Petron woes

MANILA, Philippines - Petron took another straight-set beating, this time against Taiwan Power of Chinese Taipei, 25-20, 25-16, 25-9, in the quarterfinals of the 2015 AVC Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship at the Ha Nam Competition Hall in Phu Ly, Vietnam yesterday.

The Blaze Spikers put up a tough stand in the opening set but succumbed to the Taiwanese power and class in one hour, seven minutes. The Taiwanese, who paraded the core of their national team, thus grabbed the first semifinal seat in the tournament serving as qualifier for the FIVB World Women’s Club Championship next year.

Taiwan Power will be joining the winners in the Bangkok Glass of Thailand-4.25 Sports Club of North Korea duel; the Hisamitsu Springs of Japan-Zhetyssu of Kazakhstan matchup; and the Zhejiang of China-Thong Tin Lietvietpost Bank clash.

The loss, their fourth against a lone win, dropped the Blaze Spikers to the battle for fifth to ninth places. It will face the loser between Kazakhstan and Japan in the classification match at 5 p.m. (Manila time) today.

The Taiwanese solid defense likewise shut down Petron’s hitters with no one finishing with a double-digit output. Aby Marano, Rachel Anne Daquis and Dindin Manabat finished with seven points apiece. Brazilian reinforcement Rupia Inck Furtado added six markers while Erica Adachi had 44 of the team’s 49 excellent sets.

“We ran against a strong and powerful team,” said Petron coach George Pascua. “We may have failed to win the title, but we gained valuable experience which we can use in the PSL Grand Prix. Now that we’re already out, the goal is to win our last couple of games to have a good finish.”