Katherine Bell made a strong first impression in powering Petron to a 25-18, 23-25, 25-16, 25-23 victory over Cocolife in Game 1 of their Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga (PSL) Grand Prix best-of-three semifinals series Tuesday at Filoil Flying V Centre.
Coming in as a late replacement for Hillary Hurley, Bell shone at the attack zone to give Petron an early lead in the showdown.
Should Petron win Game 2 on Thursday, it will clash with the victor of the other semifinal pairing between reigning champion F2 Logistics and Foton, which are still playing at press time.
Bell, a versatile 25-year-old spiker who led University of Texas to four Final Four appearances, including an NCAA title in 2012, came through with 27 attacks to finish with 29 points for the Blaze Spikers, who are looking to redeem themselves after falling short in last year’s finals.
Former Most Valuable Player Lindsay Stalzer was also stunning as she chipped in 19 kills, two aces and two blocks for 23 hits while Mika Reyes and Frances Molina tallied nine and eight points, respectively.