Philips Gold stuns Petron for top slot

PHILIPS Gold’s Bojana Todorovic, Desiree Dadang and Michelle Gumabao elevate to stop Petron’s Dindin Manabat in yesterdays game. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

NBOJANA Todorovic can’t do anything wrong last night, slamming 38 points and shining in defense as Philips Gold shocked Petron, 28-30, 29-27, 25-17, 25-23, to gain the semifinals of the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix women’s volleyball at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Todorovic, the University of California Los Angeles stalwart during its 2011 championship run in NCAA Division 1, was just about everywhere in hammering 34 points. She also had nine digs and four aces.

“She did it all—the scoring— and that was a championship-level game from her,” said Philips Gold coach Francis Vicente of his import whose energy inside the court rubbed onto her teammates and eased the absence of local top scorer Myla Pablo.

Pablo skipped the game to attend makeup classes at National University.

As the top team in Thursday’s semifinals, Philips Gold will now face either Cignal and Foton, depending on the outcome of the Cignal-Meralco game still being played at presstime.

The Lady Slammers finished the eliminations with an 8-2 record, while the defending champion Blaze Spikers are at 7-3, good for No. 2 spot.

Philips Gold’s other import, Alexis Olgard banged in 21 points, mostly on quick sets by the net. Maricar Nepomuceno stepped in for Pablo with 10 markers.

“That’s what the players wanted, to be No. 1,” said Vicente. “But our target is the championship.”

Brazilian hitter Rupia Inck topscored for Petron with 26 points, with Dindin Manabat and Rachel Anne Daquis adding 13 and 11.