Petron Blaze Spikers to come out stronger after 8th place finish

PHU LY, Vietnam -- Petron closed its campaign on a bitter note as it yielded a 24-26, 25-27, 26-24, 20-25 decision to Lienvietpost Bank of Vietnam in the 2015 AVC Asian Women's Club Volleyball Championship Sunday at the Ha Nam Competition Hall here.

The Blaze Spikers fought tooth and nail, but faded away in the crucial stretch as the more aggressive home team asserted its dominance to seal the victory after one hour and 50 minutes of action.

With the win, Vietnam copped the seventh place while Petron settled for the eighth place -- the same finish of the Philippine team in the tournament's previous edition in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand last year.
Reigning champion Hisamitsu Seiyaku Springs of Japan and Bangkok Glass of Thailand, meanwhile, are still disputing for the crown as of press time.

Rachel Anne Daquis led the charge with 13 kills for a total of 16 points while Frances Molina, Aby Marano and Dindin Manabat delivered 13, 12 and 11 markers, respectively, for Petron, which is using this tourney as part of its build up for the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix on Oct. 10.

"It's still a mission accomplished for us. I'm still proud of my team," said Petron coach George Pascua.

"Na-meet naman namin ang mga objectives namin like developing chemistry and finetuning our plays. Kaya lang kulang pa talaga tayo sa experience sa international tournaments kaya hindi tayo makasabay sa dulo. Konting tyaga pa at makukuha din natin yan."

True enough, Petron's lack of experience doomed its chances, especially in the crucial stretch.

After claiming a hard-earned 26-24 set win in the third, Petron nearly erased the 7-16 deficit and moved closer to within 3, 20-23, in the final stretch of the fourth set.

But a sloppy defense from the Blaze Spikers pushed the Vietnamese to a 24-20 edge en route to the victory.

"We really lack the experience," Pascua reiterated. "This tournament is different from the PSL. But this gave us a wonderful exposure to come back better and stronger next time."

Bui Thi Nga delivered 22 hits while skipper Pham Thi Yen and Than Thu Trang chipped in 14 and 11 markers for the erstwhile winless Vietnamese.

Petron will fly out of this country on Monday and will land in Manila at high noon on Tuesday.