by Kristel Satumbaga
Serbian import Sara Klisura exploded with a league-high 41 points to steer defending champion Foton past F2 Logistics, 17-25, 32-20, 25-9, 20-25, 16-14, in the 2017 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix at the Batangas City Sports Center on Saturday night.
Klisura highlighted her performance with 36 kills, four aces and one block in leading the Tornadoes to their sixth win in seven outings.
Foton’s win, which snapped the Cargo Movers’ unbeaten six-game winning streak, puts them in a three-way tie with Petron and F2 Logistics atop the team standings.
Klisura’s efforts meanwhile earned for her the Press Corps’ Player of the Week award.
“Right now, I’m very excited that we won. I don’t usually count, but I think this is my personal record,” said Klisura, a personal choice of Foton coach Moro Branislav to add strength in his team this conference.
Klisura, whose feat erased the 40-point production of Kristy Jaeckel, was crucial late in the game when her powerful attack put Foton at matchpoint, 15-14. She followed it up with another hit off a set from Kim Fajardo to seal the win.
“We agreed that Sara is one of the best foreign players who ever played in the Philippines,” Branislav said. “She was one of my players when we competed in the youngest professional league in Europe.”
Foton will wrap up their elims campaign against lowly Victoria Sports-University of Santo Tomas tomorrow before marching into the knockout quarterfinals starting Dec. 5.