Aby Maraño delivered the fiery performance expected of her, submitting 15 points to lead F2 Logistics to a 25-12, 25-21, 25-17 win over Generika-Ayala on Saturday night at the start of the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference at Filoil Flying V Centre.
The team captain for both the Cargo Movers and the national team scored five of her total output on kill-blocks, disrupting the Lifesavers’ offense.
With Maraño anchoring the defense, F2 Logistics logged 11 kill-blocks against zilch from Generika-Ayala.
Later in the evening, Sta. Lucia Realty staved off a third-set rally by new team Marinerang Pilipina to also begin its conference on a high note via a 25-23, 25-22, 25-23 victory.
Rachel Austero clustered three points in Sta. Lucia’s five-point binge to frustrate Marinera, which took a 23-20 lead in the third set.
F2 Logistic coach Ramil de Jesus credited the “La Salle connection” for the win, citing the fact that the core of his team is composed of former Lady Spikers.
Michelle Cobb took the role of starting setter with flair, opening scoring opportunities for fellow La Salle alumni Maraño, Ara Galang, Majoy Baron, Desiree Cheng and Kim Dy.
Galang accounted for 11 points, while Baron and Cheng had eight each. Dy came back from injury to score seven.
“This is a good start for us. We took advantage of Generika’s first game jitters as they still lack [chemistry]. Most of the teams in the first game won’t be in top form due to jitters,” added De Jesus.
The Cargo Movers out-attacked the Lifesavers, 39-30, and also had more aces, 5-1.
Fiona Ceballos led Generika-Ayala with 11 points.
It was a solid victory for F2 Logistics, which is expected to get sharper once national pool member Kalei Mau joins the team.
Mau was kept on the bench to allow her to study De Jesus’ system.