Foton forges tie for No. 3 with rout of Marinera

Foton dumped Marinerang Pilipina, 25-15, 29-27, 25-14, to stop a three-game slide in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference on Tuesday at Malolos Sports and Convention Center in Bulacan.

Sisters Dindin Santiago-Manabat and Jaja Santiago scored 16 points each as the Tornadoes ended the preliminary round with an 8-6 record.

Right now, with a better quotient than the Lifesavers, the Tornadoes are ranked third, unless F2 loses its match against Cignal at press time.

A win by the HD Spikers would shove Foton down to No. 4 and Generika a rung below, forging a quarterfinal collision between the Tornadoes and the Lifesavers.

“Our service-receive worked well. That has been our problem for the past games. We are good in attacking and blocking but service-receive is still the key to win games,” said Manabat.

Manabat collected 13 kills, two aces and 11 digs while Santiago had 14 kills and two blocks.

University of Santo Tomas star Eya Laure, who filled in for the injured Maika Ortiz, played sparingly in her PSL debut as she still tries to get herself accustomed to her new team.

Despite winning in straight sets, Foton barely escaped in the second set after losing a 24-21 cushion.

Fortunately for the Tornadoes, Santiago was there to put them at set point before an error doomed the Lady Skippers’ hopes of tying things up heading into the third frame.