FAVORITES Petron and Generika swept past their lightweight opponents yesterday to arrange a women’s title duel in the 2014 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix presented by Asics at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The Blaze Spikers overwhelmed Cignal, 25-23, 25-16, 25-21, while the Life Savers dominated RC Cola-Air Force, 25-23, 25-16, 25-23, to forge a winner-take-all showdown tomorrow, also at the Pasay venue.
Cignal will face RC Cola-Air Force in the battle for third place while Foton and Mane ’N Tail collide for fifth spot.
Aside from succeeding Philippine Army as champion, the titlist will also represent the country in the Asian Women’s Interclub Championship in Vietnam in April next year.
Petron coach George Pascua attributed Petron’s masterful conquest of Cignal to the inspired game of American import Alaina Bergsma, who finished with 18 hits, four blocks and three aces.
Dindin Santiago and Frances Molina chipped in 13 and 10 points, respectively for Petron.
“I didn’t expect that it would be that easy,” Pascua added. “Cignal is a strong team. They also prepared hard for this game, but we were inspired.”
Generika coach Ramil de Jesus was also surprised with the token resistance from RC Cola-Air Force, the runner-up in the previous conference.
Import Natalia Kurobkova paced a balanced Generika offense with 13 points. Stephanie Mercado added 12 and Michelle Laborte contributed 11.
De Jesus said they need to play harder and better in the finals because Petron is “really a strong team.”