Foton turns back Cocolife, grabs bronze

Foton salvaged a bronze medal from a rough campaign in the Chooks-to-Go-Philippine Superliga Grand Prix Tuesday night.

Jaja Santiago and Diana Carlos—who both came in late in the conference after fulfilling their duties in the collegiate league—shone as Foton turned back Cocolife, 21-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-18, at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Santiago scored 23 points, while Carlos slammed in nine to boost the Tornadoes, who had to change their imports mid-stream to improve their performance amid aggressive buildups of teams like Petron and F2 Logistics.

Channon Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago took over from Brooke Kranda entering the pool phase. That proved to be a wise move as Thompson filled in for the 6-foot-4 Santiago, who played out her final year with National University.

Thompson delivered 25 points, including back-to-back hits that enabled the Tornadoes to stop the Asset Managers’ late rally in the fourth set.

New coach Rommel Abella said that this early, Foton will begin preparing for the Invitational and the All-Filipino conferences.