F2 steadies ship in time, turns back fighting Sta. Lucia

Aby Marano of F2 Logistics saves the ball. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

It took an error-riddled third set to unleash F2 Logistics’ fury Saturday night.

Just when it was expecting a trouble-free ride, the defending champion were forced into a turbulent frame by feisty Sta. Lucia Realty before pulling off a 25-18, 25-16, 18-25, 25-10 win in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference.

The star-studded Cargo Movers, the hands down favorites of the full-packed Batangas City Coliseum, thus posted their fourth straight victory to rule Pool D and solidify their bid to finish in the top four in the preliminaries.

Middle blocker Majoy Baron led F2 Logistics with 22 points, including seven aces for the franchise that had a bleak start after it dropped its first two matches in the conference.

“There is still a long way to go for us as far as chemistry is concerned. We need to improve on a lot of things first,” said the reigning UAAP Most Valuable Player for La Salle.

One of their concerns will most likely be their killer instinct as the Cargo Movers were leading, 9-6, in the third set after winning the first two frames.

But they allowed the Realtors to claw back and steal the set through the efforts of lefty spiker Danika Gendrauli, Shirley Salamagos, Janine Navarro and Mar-Jana Phillps.

“We were affected by our unforced errors especially in our serves,” said Baron.

That was because the Cargo Movers were charging their serves to push the Realtors defenders far back in the court.

Sta. Lucia was even ahead in the fourth, 4-2, but F2 Logistics decided that it had enough. With authority, Aby Maraño and Kim Kiana Dy declared their side of the court a no-fly zone by scoring four straight kill blocks.

That formidable missile shield allowed F2 Logistics to build an 18-6 lead in the fourth that it never gave up.

Sta. Lucia fought closely in terms of attacks, as F2 barely won the spiking battle, 38-36. But the Realtors, who dropped to 2-4, had 35 errors compared to the Cargo Movers’ 22. F2 Logistics also had more aces 11-5.