Petron bags 5th crown Blaze Spikers sweep decider; Lady Maroons capture collegiate title
Petron retained the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference crown late Thursday night with a hard-fought 25-22, 26-24, 25-23 triumph over F2 Logistics at The Arena in San Juan City.
It was a shaky ride to the podium for the Blaze Spikers. They took Game 1 of the best-of-three finals last Saturday, 2523, 25-11, 25-17, then absorbed a stinging 21-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-17 Game 2 loss that snapped an imposing 13-game winning run.
Instead of sulking, Petron went back into business and displayed renewed vigor, shattering F2 Logistics’ usually sturdy net defense with sharp spikes anchored on Aiza Pontillas, Bernadeth Pons, Mika Reyes and Ces Molina.
It was Petron’s fifth overall title in the five-year-old league, having won the 2014 and 2018 Grand Prix and 2015 and 2018 All-Filipino Conferences.
Petron coach Shaq Delos Santos thanked their supporters for helping them achieve this accolade, admitting that they couldn’t do it without San Miguel Corp. (SMC)
“Kumbaga, sa ganoong klaseng suporta, championship na lang talaga ang pwedeng isukli (With that kind of support, nothing but a championship must be returned),” said Delos Santos.
It was a year for SMC teams with San Miguel winning the 2017-18 PBA Philippine Cup trophy, followed by Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel with the Commissioner’s Cup title, and the Magnolia Hotshots prevailing in the Governor’s Cup.
Delos Santos also credited his players’ hard work, saying that their collec- tive trust never wavered especially in the crucial phase of the campaign.
Pontillas pumped in 12 of her 13 points on kills while Pons added 11 points. Reyes and Molina also contributed nine points each even as Rhea Dimaculangan, who was later adjudged the Conference Most Valuable Player, had 31 excellent sets.
Meanwhile, University of the Philippines dealt University of Santo Tomas its lone defeat to capture the first Philippine Superliga Collegiate Grand Slam title.
The Lady Maroons overcame an 8-2 fourth-set deficit en route to their 25-21, 16-25, 25-23, 25-19 triumph in the debut tournament that stakes a 1350,000 training camp fund abroad.
Veteran Tots Carlos, who was later named MVP, bannered the Dilimanbased squad with 17 points highlighted by 15 kills while Nicole Magsarile and Maristela Layug chipped in 11 and 10 points.
UP coach Godfrey Okumu credited his stalwarts’ resurgence, where they bounced back from a slow second set.
“Our motto for is ‘Fight.’ We picked ourselves up. We fought to the end even when we’re down,” said Okumu, whose team avenged its 25-22, 25-17, 25-19 loss in the eliminations.
After Layug sealed the win with a spike, members of the squad celebrated at the center court showing small banners and stickers with a hashtag “#JusticeForDom#”, pertaining to the team’s benefactor, Dominic Sytin, who was gunned down by un- known assailants in Subic last month.