Blaze Spikers sink Lifesavers, nail number 5

MANILA, Philippines — Petron, with Lindsay Stalzer dishing out another power game, blasted Generika-Ayala, 25-21, 25-15, 25-21, to firm up its hold of the lead in the Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga Grand Prix at the Malolos Sports and Convention Center yesterday.

Playing in her fifth season, Stalzer anchored the Blaze Spikers’ decisive run in the stretch after a poor start in the third frame as Petron came away with another straight-set victory to stretch its win run to five. Generika reeled to its third straight defeat.

The 32-year old Stalzer, the former Bradley University star who led Foton to a pair of PSL crowns in 2014 and 2015, hammered in 20 attack points while spiking partner and fellow American Hillary Hurley backed her up with 11 kills, two aces and a block for 14 points.

Petron expectedly lorded it over in the spiking department, 46-31, in the 79-minute job.

“We fought back from being down and I’m very happy with the composure our team got today,” said Stalzer, a former league MVP.

After dominating the first two sets, Petron struggled in the face of Generika-Ayala’s big third set start that saw the Lifesavers lead at 8-2 after the first technical timeout.

But the Blaze Spikers fought back, cashing in on the Lifesavers’ erratic reception and a couple of unforced errors to knot the count at 16.

Stalzer then took over.

The Illinois-native shattered an 18-all deadlock with three sharp attacks to give Petron a 22-18 lead.