Petron steps up PSL drive vs Foton

Petron tries to bolster its bid for the top seeding as it tangles with Foton today as action in the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix women’s volleyball tournament shifts to the De La Salle-Lipa Sentrum in Lipa City today.

The Blaze Spikers tote a 6-2 card, just behind pacesetting Philips Gold’s 7-2 slate heading to the last two playdates of the double-round elims where the top team will battle No. 4 and the Nos. 2 and 3 squads clashing in the crossover semis.

But Foton, tied for third with Cignal at 6-3, also hopes to close out its elims campaign with a victory and bring that winning form to the semis, ensuring a slam-bang duel in the 1 p.m. match.

Ousted Meralco and RC Cola-Air Force mix it up at 3 p.m.

Billed as the strongest team on a roster built around Dindin Manabat, Aby Marano and Rachel Anne Daquis, the Blaze Spikers sputtered in the early going, dropping two of their first four games before racking up four straight wins in the tournament presented by Asics and backed by Milo with Senoh, Mueller and Mikasa as technical partners and TV5 as official broadcaster.

“It’s anybody’s ballgame,” said Petron coach George Pascua, the former FEU spiker gunning for his third straight title with the Blaze Spikers.

“The semifinals is just a one-game affair; one miss and you die. That’s why we need to win our last two games (against Foton and Philips Gold) for the momentum. We can’t think of the semis right now. Our focus still remains on the elimination round,” said Pascua.

But Foton is raring to pull off a surprise behind veteran import Lindsay Stalzer together with Katie Messing with the Tornadoes also riding the crest of a four-game win run, including a straight-set conquest of RC Cola-Air Force, 2521, 25-21, 25-19, last Thursday.

Foton coach Villet Ponce-de Leon said the Tornadoes are out not only to avenge their five-set loss to Petron in the first round, but also to make a serious run for the crown after falling short in the semifinals in the previous All-Filipino Conference.

“We are ready to face anybody. We treat them equally. Walang pwedeng balewalain,” Ponce-de Leon said. “We’re still in full force and we are ready to go all out in our last few games in the eliminations. We need to close the eliminations with a win so the team will be positive in the semis.”