Game Today (Philsports Arena, Pasig City)
5 p.m. – Foton vs Petron
The Tornadoes needed to crawl back from two sets down to turn away the Tri-Activ Spikers, 20-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15-9, Thursday night to draw first blood and move within another win of retaining the title in their best-of-three championship affair.
Momentum is already on Foton’s side for their 5 p.m. tussle against Petron, but Tornadoes coach Moro Branislav said they must not let their guard down and make room for mistakes.
“Game 2 will be very dramatic. Petron is a very good team. My team didn’t start good (in this game) and we cannot allow that to happen again,” said Branislav.
In Game 1, Foton found it hard to stop Stephanie Niemer, who spearheaded Petron’s attacks on all angles and finished with 32 monster points. But the Tornadoes were able to regain their offensive touch late in the fifth set courtesy of Lindsay Stalzer’s hard-hitting plays.
Stalzer eventually finished with 30 points including 26 kills and three blocks, overshadowing Niemer’s efforts
Petron, however, was not letting go of the Game 1 loss easily. The team has filed a protest after a crucial call midway the final set.
Leading 8-6, an attack from Petron spiker Ces Molina was called outside. The team called for a video challenge, defending that Molina’s attack had grazed the finger of a Foton blocker, but the referee still upheld his earlier decision. (Kristel Satumbaga)