Petron targets 3rd PSL plum vs Foton

Game today

1 p.m. – Petron vs Foton

MANILA, Philippines – Petron hopes to lean on its championship experience as it shoots for a third consecutive crown while a young Foton side goes all-out for a breakthrough victory in Game 3 of the 2015 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix championship at the Cuneta Astrodome today.

Opening serve is at 1 p.m. with another huge crowd tipped to witness the top-notch women’s volley action in the inter-club tourney presented by Asics and backed by Milo with Senoh, Mikasa and Mueller as technical partners and TV5 as official broadcaster.

A squad built around seasoned Aby Marano, Rachel Ann Daquis and Dindin Manabat with Brazilians Rupia Inck and Erika Adachi serving as reinforcements, Petron is heavily favored to blaze its way to the crown.

But the Tornadoes proved their worth right in the opener of their best-of-three series, upending the highly fancied Blaze Spikers for a 14-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-22 win behind tall troika of Jaja Santiago and imports Lindsay Stalzer and Katie Messing.

But the Blaze Spikers, with Adachi finally imposing her will off the net and libero Jen Reyes putting up a rock-solid backline defense, stormed back and took Game 2 in nail-biting fashion, 25-13, 25-21, 23-25, 26-24, to set the stage for rubber match.

“Game 3 is not just an ordinary game,” said Petron coach George Pascua, noting that the league’s first-ever Game 3 could go down to the last hit, last serve or last miscue.

“Whoever has the desire and the fighting heart will win the crown. We have to seize the opportunity and unleash all our weapons to make sure that we will be the last team standing,” said Pascua.

That should make Foton, which made a late push in the eliminations before shocking topseed Philips Gold in the knockout semifinals, a tough team to beat with Pascua admitting his wards need to dish out their very best to foil the Tornadoes.

With Stalzer, Messing and Santiago at the frontline, the Tornadoes displayed an elite defense in Game 1 before suffering a late-game meltdown in Game 2 that enabled Petron to equalize.

“But expect a different story in Game 3,” said Foton coach Villet Ponce-de Leon. “We will put special premium on defense. We know that offense earns points, but defense wins games. We have to tighten up our blocking and backline defense if we want to win the crown.”

Ponce-de Leon also added that they need to have a lightning-quick start to throw Petron off its comfort zone.

“In the past two games of the series palaging mabagal ang simula namin,” she said. “We need to jump the gun early because Petron is a veteran team. Mahirap kalaban ang experience nila sa fifth set. So hindi na dapat umabot pa sa ganun. Kailangan sa simula pa lang magtrabaho na kami.”

“We were brought here by fate. We have a lot of luck in the elimination and semis so it’s time for us to work and do our part. We have to work hard to convert that luck into a title.”