Elizabeth Ann Wendell of Foton vs Darlene Ramdin and Mikaela Lopez of Generika-Ayala. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Foton welcomed its new head coach Rommel Abella the best way it can.
Banking on its newly-formed big three of Brooke Kranda, Elizabeth Wendel and Dindin Santiago-Manabat, the Tornadoes beat Generika-Ayala, 25-19, 22-25, 25-16, 25-22, at the start of the 2018 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix.
Kranda poured in a game-high 21 points, 17 off thunderous kills, while Manabat and Wendel added 14 and 11 points, respectively.
“The players were still jittery, but I’m happy because we won and it’s a good start for us this tournament,” said Abella, who replaced Serbian mentor Moro Branislav at the helm, on Saturday at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
Branislav, who steered Foton to a Grand Prix title in 2016, is now calling the shots for Cocolife Asset Managers.
An off-the-block spike by Wendel put the Tornadoes up, 23-20, in the fourth set before Manabat and Kranda clinched the victory with back-to-back hits.
Import Darlene Ramdin paced the Life Savers with 19 points.