Petron stakes clean slate vs Philips Gold

Games today 1:30 p.m. – Cignal vs Shopinas 4:15 p.m. – Mane ‘N Tail vs Foton 6:15 p.m. – Philips Gold vs Petron

Petron tries to sustain its blazing streak as the second round elimination phase of the 2015 Philippine Superliga (PSL) women’s volleyball tournament All-Filipino Conference starts with an explosive triple-header today at the Cuneta Astrodome.

After sweeping the first round, the Blaze Spikers collide with Philips Gold at 6:15 p.m. right after the 4:15 p.m. encounter between Mane ‘N Tail and Foton, and the 1:30 p.m. battle between Cignal and Shopinas in this inter-club tourney organized by Sports Core and backed by Asics, Mikasa, Senoh, Mueller Sports Medicine, Via Mare, LGR and Healthway Medical.

The Blaze Spikers remain on top of the team standings with a 5-0 win-loss slate while Foton is running second with a 3-2 card followed by Shopinas (2-2), Philips Gold (2-3), Cignal (1-3) and Mane ‘N Tail (1-4).

Epitomizing beauty and power, Petron was dominating after pulling off four consecutive conquests in impressive fashions.

But in their previous game against Mane ‘N Tail, Petron started out slow, enabling the Lady Stallions to send the game to a deciding fifth set that nearly blemished the Blaze Spikers’ immaculate slate.

Petron went on to book a heart-stopping 25-27, 25-22, 25-16, 1725, 16-14 win, but its coach, George Pascua, did not fell the need to press the panic button.

“That kind of game is a good test to our maturity and character,” said Pascua, the former Far Eastern University star who guided the Blaze Spikers to a Grand Prix title last year. “We are the leaders and everybody is out to defeat us. We are now entering the second round. We have to push our performance a notch higher if we want to have an easy ride to the finals.”

Petron, however, is expected to get a serious test from a hungry Philips Gold side.

With top rookie Iris Tolenada setting the plays, the Lady Slammers fell to a maze of turnovers as homegrown players like Myla Pablo, Rossan Fajardo, Desiree Dadang and Michelle Gumabao struggled to adjust to her fast American-style game during their opening-day loss to Petron, 16-25, 18-25, 23-25.

Philips Gold coach Francis Vicente, however, made a crucial adjustment of giving more minutes to local setter Sarah Espelita that resulted to an impressive 25-18, 2426, 25-21, 15-25, 15-13 victory over Foton in their previous game.