Defending champion F2 Logistics and Petron fashioned out victories over their respective rivals Saturday night in the Philippine Superliga-Chooks To Go Grand Prix at Santa Rosa Sports Center in Laguna.
F2 trounced Cocolife, 25-21, 25-15, 25-16, to start its title-retention bid while Petron drubbed Cignal, 25-17, 8-25, 25-20, 25-17 to also bolster its own campaign.
Lindsay Stalzer and Hillary Hurley combined forces to help the Blaze Spikers recovered from a disastrous second set.
They both finished with 18 points each.
“They really are a tough team,” said Stalzer of Cignal which fell to 1-1 record. “And it was good test for us.”
Cignal’s Sonja Milanovic scored 23 points, while Jeane Horton added 20 for the HD Spikers.
Stalzer and Hurley, the duo that spearheaded Petron to the finals of last year’s Grand Prix, combined for 27 of the Blaze Spikers’ 44 attack points while providing leadership down the crucial stretch.
“We had some troubles in the second set,” said Petron head coach Shaq Delos Santos. “It’s good that we were able to recover and finish strong.”
After trailing by two, 8-10, the vaunted floor defense of the Blaze Spikers conked out, allowing the HD Spikers to uncork 15 consecutive points and claim the second set, 25-8.
But in the next set, Stalzer and Hurley connived in the attack zone to give Petron an early lead, 8-5, entering the first technical timeout.
Petron took the early lead with a 2-0 card.