Foton retained its supremacy in the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix as it bested Petron, 25-20, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17, for its second straight crown at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
The Tornadoes, who had to thread through the eye of the needle en route to a 20-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15-9 Game 1 victory Thursday night, recovered from a third-set meltdown to fashion out the match win and sweep their best-of-three championship series, 2-0.
Foton was unstoppable on all angles until the third frame, when Petron destroyed the Tornadoes’ solid net defense courtesy of Stephanie Niemer’s hard-hitting kills.
But Foton quickly regained its composure in the fourth frame by seizing a quick 13-6 lead and never looked back.
Foton was also flawless against Petron after winning all its four meetings this conference – including two matches in the preliminaries.
Foton’s imports steered the squad especially in the offensive department with Ariel Usher firing 19 points and Lindsay Stalzer chipping in 14 points while conspiring for 28 of the team’s 46 attacks.
Jaja Santiago also shone for Foton with 10 points, while Rhea Dimaculangan silently contributed with 15 excellent sets.
Petron actually outplayed Foton in attacks (48-46) and blocks (5-3), but the Tri-Activ Spikers’ 38 woeful errors proved crucial in their overall performance.
Foton, for its part, also leaned on its sharp service by unloading 10 aces – three coming from Dindin Manabat.
Joining her are teammates Ariel Usher (Second Best Outside Spiker) and Maika Ortiz (Second Best Middle Blocker), Petron’s Stephanie Niemer (First Best Outside Spiker) and Aiza Pontillas (Second Best Opposite Spiker), F2 Logistics’ Aby Maraño (First Best Middle Blocker), Dawn Macandili (Best Libero) and Kim Fajardo (Best Setter), and RC Cola Army’s Jovelyn Gonzaga (First Best Opposite Spiker).