Petron stays in the lead after surviving Foton charge

FILE- Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Petron needed five sets to brush off Foton and keep its record spotless Saturday night.

The Blaze Spikers, dragged to the distance by a determined Tornadoes side, hacked out a 16-25, 25-14, 22-25, 25-18, 15-13 victory for their sixth straight win in the Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga Grand Prix at Sta. Rosa Sports Complex.

Hillary Hurley scored 21 points for Petron but admitted they struggled through the marathon match.

“There we so many ups and downs and there were times I was the hero but there were times I was down and my teammates had to pick me up,” said Hurley. “So it was great to have the full support of your team.”

The Tornadoes suffered their third loss in five matches despite their gutsy stand.

Serbian scoring machine Sara Klisura unloaded heavily in the fourth set to power Cocolife to its fourth straight victory, beating winless Generika-Ayala, 25-19, 25-16, 21-25, 25-17.

Klisura, who owns the league all-time best output at 41, delivered 26 markers for the Asset Managers who also got 13 from another import Taylor Milton. Two more locals delivered for them with Royse Tubino and Joanne Bunag making 11 and 10, respectively.

The win catapulted Cocolife to second spot behind leader Petron and bolstered their morale going into the quarterfinal phase of the conference.

“Sara is an excellent player,” said Cocolife coach Moro Branislav. “She’s a good scorer who commits very little mistakes. That’s why in the fourth set, after Generika won the third set, we decided to give [the ball] to Sara. It’s good that she delivered and helped us get this victory.” —MARC ANTHONY REYES