Spanish spiker debuts for tornadoes

FoTon parades two key additions when it battles reigning champion Petron in the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix on Tuesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

The Tornadoes tapped a new import, Milagros Collar of Spain, and the returning dindin Manabat in their 4:15 p.m. battle with the Blaze Spikers.

Generika-ayala, meanwhile, tries to resume its winning ways when it clashes with PLdT at 2 p.m. and Cignal and Sta. Lucia collide in the 7 p.m. nightcap.

after opening the season with a rousing four-set win over United VC, the Tornadoes struggled and lost their next six matches to finish the first round at the bottom of the heap.

The Tornadoes decided to tap Collar to replace an ineffective Selime Ilyasoglu of Turkey while bringing back Santiago, who spent several months competing as an import for Toray arrows in the V. Premier League in Japan.

Collar is coming in with sterling credentials. a 15-year veteran of the Spanish national team, Collar saw action in various club leagues in Spain, Italy, France and romania. Her previous stint was for Hyundai e&C Hilstate in the Korean League, where she erupted for 36 points.

“Milagros is an opposite spiker who can really help us in the offensive end,” said Foton team manager diane Santiago, sister of dindin Manabat and Jaja Santiago. “We already processed her ITC [international transfer certificate] as early as last week and she will be ready to play against Petron on Tuesday.”

also tipped to help the Tornadoes is Manabat. The 6-foot-2 middle blocker is in top shape and had already rejoined their training since arriving on Friday.