Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Foton regained its footing after going two sets down to repel RC Cola-Army for a 23-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-15, 15-7 victory yesterday and return to the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix finals in Legaspi City.
The Tornadoes started off cold and obviously took the Lady Troopers for granted in the noontime match at Ibalong Centrum.
“RC Cola-Army is such a difficult team to beat. They always play strong in big battles,” said Foton coach Moro Branislav. “But my team finished strong and that’s what mattered.”
In the nightcap, Petron arranged a battle for the title after it wore down hard-fighting F2 Logistics, 25-23, 23-25, 17-25, 25-22, 15-10, in the other pairing.
Game 1 of the best-of-three title series starts Thursday.
While the Lady Troopers logged in additional hours in practice, the Tornadoes spent the eve of the semifinals hightailing to the CamSur Watersports Complex in nearby Naga City.
That excursion nearly blew up in the face of the defending champions, but the Tornadoes displayed a big fighting heart and drew some crunchtime heroics from Ariel Usher and Ivy Perez.
Usher finished with 22 points, including crucial attacks in their desperate run in the third set where Branislav opted to use his youthful backup setter Perez to open up the scoring lanes.
Jaja Santiago and Lindsay Stalzer wound up with 14 markers apiece for the Tornadoes, who have only lost one game in the conference.
Earlier, Generika salvaged fifth place after downing Cignal, 25-10, 25-20, 27-25, in the classification game.