Unbeaten Petron spikers out to end title drought

Petron import Stephanie Niemer. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Petron may be alone on top with three victories, but newly-acquired coach Shaq Delos Santos said they are hungry for more.

Without a title for the past two years, the franchise is banking on imports Stephanie Niemer and Serena Warner to turn things around in the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix.

“A good start means nothing if we don’t win the crown,” said Delos Santos. “That’s our goal right from the start. We remain hungry and motivated knowing that teams in the Grand Prix are all good.”

They will face an equally hungry team in Cignal at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in the opener of a triple-header at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

“It’s still a long way to go,” said Delos Santos, who was assistant to former mentor George Pascua when Petron tallied a historic 13-0 sweep of the 2015 All-Filipino Conference.

Petron drubbed RC Cola-Army Thursday night, 25-23, 23-25, 25-18, 25-19, in the match that saw Niemer firing 24 points and Warner 14.

Another interesting match-up pits RC Cola-Army against Foton at 5 p.m., while F2 Logistics battles winless Generika at 3 p.m.

Foton coach Moro Brasnilav blamed the schedule of his players Cherry Rondina and EJ Laure with University of Santo Tomas, which is mentored by RC Cola coach Kungfu Reyes.

Brasnilav said it’s unfair that his two spikers only had one full practice with the team because they’re busy with another league and the coming collegiate volleyball season.

Foton is also trying to keep an unbeaten slate (2-0) through imports Lindsay Stalzer and Ariel Usher, who have been playing with the local crew for almost two months. Marc Anthony Reyes