Foton “Cinderellas.” Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Even before her setter Ivy Perez sealed the title for them, Foton Tornadoes head coach Vilet Ponce De Leon knew the title was theirs.
“Honestly, when we scored our 21st point in the third set,” Ponce De Leon said when asked when she felt the game was theirs Saturday at Cuneta Astrodome.
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That point came off Jaja Santiago’s block on Frances Molina giving the Tornadoes a 21-16 lead.
“I felt it (in the 21st point) because when we scored our 20th point (20-15) you still couldn’t disregard Petron, even if they are down they can still go up,” Ponce De Leon said. “These are seasoned players, they will always have a chance to retaliate.”
“But when we were at 21-16 and it was that lopsided then the statistics were in our favor, I said to myself ‘we got this.’”
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Ponce De Leon’s MVP import Lindsay Stalzer had a similar statement, but the bubbly hitter’s number was a little bit higher than her coach.
Stalzer felt Foton had the championship when Kathleen Messing scored crosscourt shot that put the Tornadoes up 22-17.
“When we had 22 points, we figured it out there’s not much they can do right now to beat us,” Stalzer said who had 20 points in the game. “All we have to do was we just had to control.”
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“I knew I had to keep calm for the rest of the game, that three points was a very long time.”