Games tomorrow (Cuneta Astrodome)
1 p.m. – Cignal vs Meralco
3 p.m. – Philips Gold vs Petron
MANILA, Philippines – RC Cola-Air Force leaned on its multi-faceted imports Lynda Morales and Sara Christine McClinton as it turned back a fiesty Meralco, 25-20, 17-25, 20-25, 25-21, 15-13, yesterday to jumpstart its title campaign in the 2015 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix at The Arena in San Juan City.
Morales, a Puerto Rico national team standout, did almost everything as she unleashed 26 hits, 19 on kills and seven on blocks, while McClinton scattered 20 to seal the win for the debuting Raiders.
“We have strong imports,” said RC Cola coach Rhovyl Verayo. “I just hope we could log in more practice sessions because Lynda (Morales) arrived only last Friday and we practiced only three times.”
Morales shone the brightest in the final two sets when she not only delivered the decisive kills but also made some game-changing blocks.
Her best moment came in the deciding set when she unloaded a kill that broke a 13-all deadlock and then blocked a spike by Meralco reinforcement Liis Kullerkann.
“She (Morales) made some crucial plays late in the game,” said Verayo.
Verayo, however, rued his team’s poor reception in the second and third sets and some parts of the final set that almost led to his team’s downfall.
“We just lost our reception in the second and third set and we were a little more tentative in the middle of the final set. Good thing we recovered in the end,” said Verayo.
Kullerkann paced the Power Spikers with 18 hits while Mika Reyes and Cruz chipped in 15 and 11, respectively, as they fell to their third straight defeat.
It didn’t help that Meralco’s second import, Christina Nicole Alessi was benched in the last four sets and finished just one.