By Jerome Lagunzad
Game Today (The Arena, San Juan City)
4:15 p.m. – F2 Logistics vs Foton
7 p.m. – Petron vs Cocolife
Defending champion F2 Logistics and Petron intend to forge a keenly-awaited finals rematch as they go for the kill against their respective semifinals foes today in the Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga (PSL) Grand Prix at The Arena in San Juan City.
The top-ranked Cargo Movers have an initial crack to make it back to the finals as they take on the No. 4 Foton Tornadoes at 4:15 p.m. with the determination to come up with a fitting encore to a 25-22, 25-23, 23-25, 25-22, victory in the opener last Tuesday night.
Reigning tourney MVP MJ Perez and Kennedy Bryan combined for 29 points while crafty setter Kim Fajardo came up with 31 excellent sets and 15 digs as F2 Logistics made Foton pay dearly for its 39 errors, several of them due to its poor serving.
Meanwhile, the second-ranked Blaze Spikers are also eager to reassert their mastery over Cocolife in their 7 p.m. encounter after they proved too strong for the third-seeded Asset Managers in their 25-18, 23-25, 25-16, 25-23 win in the series opener.
American reinforcement Katherine Bell lived up to her lofty billing with 29 points, most of them coming on the offensive end, in an impressive debut while one-time tourney MVP Lindsay Stalzer added 23 points, forming a fearsome duo for Petron, which is raring to make up for a bridesmaid finish in the same tourney last year.
“What happened to us in the finals (against the Cargo Movers last year) was a lesson learned,” said Blaze Spikers coach Shaq Delos Santos. “We don’t want it to happen. Despite this win, we will still work hard and polish our lapses in our game.”
