Super Liga: Petron settles for third after beating Cagayan

Fille Cainglet (left) and her coach Vilet Ponce de Leon talk to reporters following Petron’s win over Cagayan Valley to claim third place Sunday night.

MANILA, Philippines — Fan-favorite Petron leaned on a balanced attack to beat Cagayan, 25-18, 22-25, 26-24, 25-16, and settle for third place in the penultimate game of the Philippine Super Liga women’s volleyball invitational Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Maika Ortiz led the way for the Blaze Spikers, who had four players in double-digit scoring, with 20 points.

“Mindset na namin [to go all out]. Unang-una kailangan naming bumawi after ng game namin last time. At the same time, although we’re playing for third, we still want to win. We want to end the tournament with a win,” said Petron coach Vilet Ponce de Leon, which lost to Cignal in the semifinals last Friday.

Focused from the get-go, Petron, bannered by former UST and Ateneo standouts with the likes of Charo Soriano, Aiza Maizo, Angeli Tabaquero and Rhea Dimaculangan, ran away early in the fourth set after eking out a thrilling third set win.

“Nung 24 all, doon lumabas yung teamwork. Sa mga crucial time the only thing you have to rely on is the players’ teamwork,” said Ponce de Leon.

Tabaquero backed up Ortiz with 16 points, 15 of which coming on kills while Maizo and Fille Cainglet chipped in with 11 and 10 points each.

Joy Cases paced erstwhile leader Cagayan, which failed to sustain its strong start in the elimination round, with 18 points.

Earlier, PLDT MyDSL scraped past PCSO Bingo Milyonaryo, 25-18, 26-24, 21-25, 21-25, 20-18, in a grueling match which lasted for two hours and three minutes as the Speed Boosters avoided a last-place finish.

Adamson’s one-two punch Pau Soriano and Angela Benting did most of the damage with a combined 43 points for PLDT with Soriano coming away with 24.

Michelle Laborte punched in 20 points while Michelle Gumabao and Maica Morada contributed 14 points apiece for the Puffins.