Petron, Foton seal semifinal showdown

Petron toyed with Sta. Lucia Realty before scoring a 25-7, 26-24, 25-16 triumph Saturday at Malolos Sports and Convention Center in Bulacan to assure itself of a place in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference semifinals.

Falling in complacency in the second set after an opening frame blowout, the Blaze Spikers found themselves down by three set points as the Lady Realtors’ Mar-Jana Phillips waxed hot.

But Petron fought point after point to yank the set out of Sta. Lucia’s hands. That was enough to tear the Lady Realtors’ morale to shreds.

Later in the day, Foton made quick work of lowly Cherrylume, 25-22, 25-20, 25-11, to complete the semifinal cast.

The Tornadoes and the Blaze Spikers will collide in the semifinals on Thursday.

Petron team captain Ces Molina topscored with 11 points as the Blaze Spikers got contributions from just about everybody.

“It was a big win for us; maybe we relaxed a bit but we knew that we could [get the win]. Thankfully we pulled it off,” said Molina in Filipino.

Aiza Pontillas helped with seven points while Mika Reyes chipped in six points including the match-clinching point. Only liberos Bang Pineda and Ria Duremdes failed to score.

The Lady Realtors were relegated to the classification round, where they will join in the battle for fifth to eighth places.

Petron dominated the offense with 39 attacks compared to 25 by Sta. Lucia. And the Lady Realtors committed 26 errors, twice as much as the Blaze Spikers had.

But Sta. Lucia led in reception with Ria Sante making 9 of her team’s 28 receives, compared to just 10 by Petron.

The Blaze Spikers, however, made up with 18 digs against the 11 of the Lady Realtors. —MARC ANTHONY REYES