Foton nabs bronze in PSL Grand Prix

Jaja Santiago of Foton over Erica Alquino and Marta Dpra of Cocolife. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Foton ended its campaign on a high after scraping past Cocolife, 21-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-19, to win the bronze medal in the 2018 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix Tuesday at Araneta Coliseum.

American import Channon Thompson and star local Jaja Santiago combined for 49 points to lead the way for the Tornadoes, who shook off a slow start.

“(We had) a lot of hardships and a lot of ups and downs, but third place is still third place,” said Foton coach Rommel Abella. “We’re still in the podium and that’s really our target. We want to match what we achieved last year.”

“At least we hit our target. That’s the best thing about this conference.”

But Foton needed several changes in the middle of the tournament to finish in third place.

Thompson replaced Brooke Kranda at the end of the classification round before University of the Philippines standouts Diana Carlos and Isa Molde bolstered the Tornadoes lineup in time for the quarterfinals.

Finally, Santiago, the newly-minted UAAP MVP out of National University, came in and although Foton still fell short in its best-of-three semifinals duel against F2 Logistics, she played an instrumental role in the team’s finale.

Marta Drpa had 23 points for the Asset Managers, who wound up in fourth place for the second straight time, while Sara Klisura played through a shoulder injury to tally 14 points.