Sta. Lucia snaps Petron’s perfect PSL run

Bodhana Anisova of Sta. Lucia Realty vs Ces Molina and Mika Reyes of Petron

Sta. Lucia Realty wants the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix field to know that it is a force to be reckoned with.

And the Lady Realtors couldn’t have found a better way to send that message across Thursday night.

Pouncing on error-prone Petron, Sta. Lucia carved out the biggest upset of the conference after scoring a 25-18, 25-21, 25-17 win that snapped the Blaze Spikers’ perfect run at eight games at FilOil Flying V Center.

“Finally we managed to overcome that mental test,” said Sta. Lucia coach George Pascua. “We were on the brink of winning so many matches in the past but just couldn’t quite finish them off.”

It was a different Sta. Lucia team that the Blaze Spikers encountered as the Lady Realtors led from start to finish by pouncing on 30 unforced errors by Petron.

“I know that we have the potential, so we had psychological and mental training before that match knowing that we are facing an unbeaten team,” said Pascua after his crew rose to 4-5.

“This game is good for the morale of the players. Hopefully we can sustain it.”

Sta. Lucia’s import Bogdana Anisova led the Lady Realtors with 14 points and provided the steady presence in the middle.

“Tonight we played with a lot of communication, almost like a family out there in the court,” said the Ukrainian spiker. “We need to play like that and be aggressive in more of our games.