Petron whips Cignal, grabs solo PSL lead

Fully revved up, Petron used speed and power to disrupt Cignal’s smooth game and prevail, 25-17, 25-20, 25-23, last night and grab the solo lead with three straight wins in the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix presented by Asics at Cuneta Astrodome.

The Blaze Spikers turned what was expected to be a bruising battle between the top two squads into a mismatch with powerful imports Alaina Bergsma and Erica Adachi jelling with local superstar Dindin Santiago.

Bergsma finished with 23 points including 20 kills for the Blaze Spikers who dealt the HD Spikers their first defeat in three games.

Earlier, heavy scorer Kristy Jaeckel rewrote the scoring record when she drilled in 40 points to lead Mane ’N Tail to a 25-22, 17-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-6 victory over Foton for its first win in the tourney.

The 25-year-old Jaeckel, playing out of University of Florida and a veteran of the All-American Volleyball League, earned a living firing from the back row to steer the Lady Stallions out of the cellar with a 1-2 record.

Jaeckel, endearingly dubbed as “JaecKill,” had 32 spikes in posting the league’s new scoring standard that improved the 37 points set by Santiago early this year.

Jaeckel, who added four blocks and four service winners, tied Santiago’s mark last Saturday in a losing effort against Petron in Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur.

“It’s a team effort, Kaylee (Manns) was giving me sets and kudos to the libero for being aggressive. I can’t get points without my team,” said Jaeckel.

Manns accounted for 38 excellent sets on top of 11 points including two service winners and two blocks.

Russian reinforcement Irina Tarasova finished with 29 points for the Tornadoes who suddenly lost fire after taking two sets to one lead. Elena Tarasova added 15 points but it wasn’t enough to bail Foton out.