Blaze spikers stay perfect, reach finale

MANILA, Philippines — Petron Blaze bucked another faulty start to turn back Cignal HD, 23-25, 25-17, 25-16, 25-21, and claim a finals berth in the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City last night.

Stephanie Niemer went on a beast mode and unleashed a monstrous 35-point performance to power the Blaze Spikers to a two-game sweep of the Cignal squad and into a best-of-three finals showdown with the winner of the other semifinal series between F2 and PLDT Home Fibr.

The Cargo Movers topped the Power Hitters in the opener of their own semis pairing.

With the win, Petron stayed in the running for a possible “perfect season.” It has racked up 17 straight wins this conference.

Petron appeared shaky at the start, allowing Cignal to snatch another set from the heavily-favored reigning Grand Prix champion.

But like in the series-opener Tuesday, the Blaze Spikers bounced back strong in the next set and roared on to repeat over Cignal HD.

Niemer had another superb show just as she did in Game One where she bombed away 24 hits.

“She was feeling it in this game, that’s the reason we went to her a lot,” said Petron coach Shaq delos Santos.