Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—F2 Logistics stayed composed in the clutch to stop Cignal in five sets, 25-22, 26-25, 18-25, 17-25, 15-8, and take a 1-0 series lead in the Philippine Super Liga All-Filipino Conference Finals Saturday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Cargo Movers recovered from their disastrous third and fourth sets and took the fifth set with the poise befitting of a three-time champion team.
Coming off the gates fast, F2 took a 3-0 lead in the deciding set after Kianna Dy’s off-the-block kill, building enough cushion to keep gutsy Cignal at bay.
Ara Galang and Desiree Cheng exchanged kills that put F2 up, 11-6, before a couple of errors from the HD Spikers bumped that margin to seven, 13-6.
Jovelyn Gonzaga, who played in her fourth five-set match in five days, salvaged a point for the HD Spiker, but Mary Joy Baron’s denial of Janine Navarro clinched the Cargo Movers’ advantage in this three-game series.
“When we got to 8-4, I felt that we had control of the situation, although of course, we really couldn’t deny that there were some calls that are so close to being check balls or near to the line,” said F2 head coach Ramil De Jesus in Filipino.
“I had to remind them that we should forget about the third and fourth sets and just focus on the fifth,” added De Jesus.
Kalei Mau was a beast for the Cargo Movers with 27 points, 25 coming off spikes, while Ara Galang and Baron added 11 points apiece.
Navarro led Cignal with 16 points while Gonzaga and Alohi Robins-Hardy added 12 and 11 points, respectively.