Petron whips Mane ‘n Tail; Foton scores

PETRON moved a win away from a clean sweep by crushing Mane ‘n Tail, 25-15, 25-23, 25-14, while Foton snapped a three-game losing streak to down Philips Gold, 25-16, 25-20, 22-25, 19-25, 15-9, last night in the Philippine Superliga All Filipino Conference at Alonte Sports Arena in Biñan, Laguna.

Already assured of the first semifinal slot, the Blaze Spikers didn’t take chances against the Lady Stallions who dragged them to a five-setter in the first round.

This time, they leaned on their  big guns to secure win No. 9 and will gun for a 10-0 sweep tomorrow against Shopinas.

The Lady Stallions limped to their sixth defeat in eight games and will have to fight it out in the quarterfinals.

The Tornadoes almost paid dearly for putting their guards down after taking a two-sets-to-one lead. But with some crunchtime spunk, they got back in the fifth to secure their fourth win in eight games.

In snapping their skid, the Tornadoes also resurrected their chances for the second outright semifinal slot. They also ended the Lady Slammers’ three-game winning run and created a gridlock in the middle of the standings.

Patty Orendain topscored with 21 points, while rookies Pam Lastimosa and Nicole Tiamzon added 17 and 14 points, respectively.

With a straight-set defeat staring at them, the Lady Slammers found the right combination made up of Rossan Fajardo, Leuseth Dawis and Lutgarda Malaluan who made the most of their playing time.

Fajardo scored three of Philips’ last five points in the third set as the Lady Slammers avoided a shutout.  Then all three and Myla Pablo took turns as Philips posted a 22-12 lead in the fourth to eventually force the decider. Marc Reyes