Unstoppable Bell carries Petron closer to PSL Grand Prix crown

Katherine Bell took matters into her own hands to push Petron past F2 Logistics, 23-25, 20-25, 25-15, 25-22, 15-9, in Game 1 of the 2018 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix Finals Tuesday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Bell played with reckless abandon, especially in the fifth set where she scored eight of the Blaze Spikers’ last nine points, including an emphatic kill from the back row.

“She was just unstoppable. She did everything. She led the fight for us when we needed it most,” said Petron coach Shaq delos Santos in Filipino.

“I told my players to forget what happened in the first two sets because we still have three more sets left. We just need to be patient and do what we worked on in practice,” he added. “The players accepted the challenge.”

The hard-hitting Bell erupted for 42 points off 36 kills while fellow American import Lindsay Stalzer added 17 points.

Game 2 is on Thursday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan with the Blaze Spikers looking to avoid a repeat of last year’s finals where the Cargo Movers won the last two games of the series to win the title.

Petron also got a lift from Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and Mika Reyes, who tallied nine points apiece.

MJ Perez and Kennedy Bryan posted 16 and 15 points, respectively for the Cargo Movers, who had no answers for Bell’s array of attacks.