Petron goes for a historic 13-game title sweep today against beleaguered Shopinas in Game 2 of the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference best-of-three finals at Cuneta Astrodome.
The Blaze Spikers have been dominant the whole conference and with the ease they showed in beating the Lady Clickers, 25-18, 25-14, 25-19, in last Monday’s Game 1, it looked like today’s 4:15 p.m. game will simply be a coronation for the franchise.
Petron is already in the PSL books as the only team to win all its games en route to the finals. It swept all its 10 games in the eliminations and was untouchable in the semifinals. The franchise has also won last year’s Grand Prix.
Credit for the expected romp goes to Dindin Manabat, Rachel Anne Daquis and Aby Marano who somehow managed to fit into the Blaze Spikers’ system.
“Winning the title has been our goal right from the start,” said Petron coach George Pascua. “Since we’re already moving closer to our goal, I told them to get it on Thursday. We have to remain consistent and sustain the momentum if we want to win another crown.”
Shopinas, boasting a veteran lineup and a time-tested system, has shown its best but can’t contain Petron’s explosive play.
The six-foot-2 Manabat has been unstoppable in the middle with Daquis and Marano manning the opposite sides to complete the triple threat.
The Lady Clickers have big guns of their own in Cha Cruz and Stephanie Mercado but their urgent need is to come up with a solid floor defense.
“We went back to the drawing board and charted the plays that made us successful in the past,” said Shopinas coach Ramil de Jesus. “We just have to come up with better reception and correct our mistakes.”