A jubilant Lindsay Stalzer. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Chants of “isa na lang! (just one more)” rang inside San Juan Arena as Foton sat comfortably on a 2-0 set lead over Philips Gold in the semifinals of the Philippine Super Liga Grand Prix.
A win would take whichever team to the finals and Lindsay Stalzer’s Tornadoes were primed to take one of the slots.
READ: Foton makes PSL finals, ousts no. 1 Philips Gold
Disaster, however, happened in the following two sets.
The Lady Slammers, behind import Bojana Todorovic, stormed back to force a fifth set.
Stalzer, the Tornadoes’ reliable import, would stage one of PSL’s most impressive single performances in a fifth set.
She scored seven of her 29 points in the deciding frame to carry Foton to a 25-18, 26-24, 18-25, 20-25, 15-8 victory over Philips Gold.
“We wanted this game so bad. We were never doubtful, we were confident,” Stalzer said.
READ: PSL semis gets going; one loss, you’re out
“You need a lot of fighting to get out of that hole that’s why we need to celebrate every point. We need that loudness, that volume.”
In a game where intensity enveloped the arena, trash talk was unavoidable and Stalzer was at the receiving end of one tirade.
Desiree Dadang managed a block in the fourth set to put the Lady Slammers up 12-9 and couldn’t help but direct her emotions to Stalzer who was in front of her.
Ever the professional, Stalzer knew the action was just a byproduct of the intense atmosphere.
“Sometimes you do things out of intensity,” Stalzer said who didn’t mind Dadang’s actions. “But I just wanted the referee to know what happened.”
