Game 1 loss sparks Petron to bounce back and win another PSL title

MANILA, Philippines — Petron’s failure to come up with a sweep turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it willed it to go all out and clinch the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix title before a massive crowd late Saturday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Head coach Shaq Delos Santos admitted that after absorbing a sorry loss to F2 Logistics in Game One of their best-of-three finals showdown, he presided an open-forum session to give the players a chance to reflect and re-establish their priorities.

The meeting became emotional with American imports Stephanie Niemer and Katherine Bell vowing to deliver to lead the Blaze Spikers to a back-to-back title.
Niemer and Bell fulfilled their promise as they powered the Blaze Spikers to an impressive 26-24, 25-19, 23-25, 25-19 victory in Game Three to formally clinch their sixth title.

Niemer lit up the scoreboard with 31 points while Bell chipped in 16 markers for the Blaze Spikers who bounced back from a third-set meltdown en route to winning the title.

Niemer, the hard-serving Kentucky native who was considered to be part of the United States national women’s team last year, also emerged as Best Scorer and Most Valuable Player award, crowns that vindicate her from a massive disaster three years ago when she and the Blaze Spikers surrendered to Lindsay Stalzer, Ariel Usher and the Foton Tornadoes in a thrilling finals series.
Bell also took the Best Opposite Spiker diadem while Rhea Dimaculangan was named as Best Setter following the title series that featured two of the best teams in Philippine volleyball.

Still, Delos Santos believes that their loss in Game One fired them up, prompting them to brush off the confidence and complacency brought by their 17-game winning streak.
“Our loss in Game One served as the turning point,” said Delos Santos, who was an assistant coach when Petron registered a 13-0 sweep of the All-Filipino Conference in 2015.

“After we lost in Game One, we had an open forum where we allowed everybody to speak up and release everything in their hearts. It was a success. We renewed our commitment to winning and played Games Two and Three with hunger and intensity.”

Aside from Bell, Niemer and Dimaculangan, also playing key role in this championship march were Mika Reyes, Aiza Maizo-Pontillas, Frances Molina, Remy Palma, Bernadeth Pons and Denden Lazaro, who shrugged off flu just to collect her first PSL title.

Role players Carmela Tunay, Pia Gaiser, Anne Esguerra, Chloe Cortez and Angel Legacion round up the champion squad.