Hot Alab seek to keep streak vs Thais
Bell rallies Petron to Game one victory
Katherine Bell made a resounding debut for powerhouse Petron, firing 29 hits to help power the Blaze Spikers to a 25-18, 23-25, 25-16, 25-23 victory over Cocolife for the head start in their Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga (PSL) Grand Prix semifinal series at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan yesterday.
Coming in as a late replacement for injured Hillary Hurley, Bell delivered 27 attack points to finish with 29 while former MVP awardee Lindsay Stalzer backed her up with 19 kills, two aces and two blocks for 23 hits and Mika Reyes and Frances Molina tallied nine and eight markers, respectively.
Petron, out to redeem itself after falling short in the finals last year, goes for the finals berth tomorrow.
“What happened to us in the finals (last year) was a lesson learned,” said Petron coach Shaq delos Santos. “We don’t want it to happen again. Despite this win, we will still work hard and polish our lapses in our game.”
Delos Santos added that the gamble they made in bringing in a new import in Bell appears to be paying off.
“She just arrived last week and has been with us for only nine days. We’re so lucky that the schedule was adjusted so we had time to adjust. Anyway, it wasn’t a major adjustment. She’s very jolly and easy to get along,” said Delos Santos of the 25-year old spiker who led University of Texas to four Final Four appearances, including a title in the NCAA in 2012.
After cruising in the opening frame, the Blaze Spikers struggled in the face of the Asset Managers’ strong fightback in the second set as Serbians Sara Klisura and Marta Drpa steered the latter to a 21-17 lead.
Petron did strike back to force a tie at 21 but Klisura connected on a booming kill and Jane Gonzales came through with an ace to anchor the Asset Managers’ close win.
But the Blaze Spikers, with Bell combining with Stalzer and the local aces, re-imposed their will in the third then held sway in a thrilling fourth set duel to pound out the victory.
“We relaxed in the second set,” Delos Santos said. “Good thing we managed to recover in the third set. We will study all our lapses in the second set and improve it next game, especially our passing and reception.”
Drpa tallied 26 points while Klisura chipped in 18 markers for Cocolife, which is looking to make it to the finals for the first time since joining the league last year.
San Miguel Alab Pilipinas, now 3-0 versus Mono Vampire from the eliminations, goes all out to keep its perfect run versus the Thai ball club, shooting for a pivotal 2-0 lead in the ABL best-of-five finals at the Sta. Rosa Multi-Purpose Arena in Sta. Rosa, Laguna tonight.
The opening tip is set at 8 p.m. with the home team hoping to continue to dazzle the home crowd and keep its unbeaten run in post-elims play.
Coach Jimmy Alapag and his troops expect Mono Vampire to come back strong from its sorry loss in the finals opener.
The Thais had looked on the way to nailing the crucial series head start only to blow away a four-point lead in the last 30 seconds.
Renaldo Balkman said he would do his best as he anticipates a tougher battle with 7-5 Mono Vampire center Samuel Deguara.
Alab Pilipinas tore Mono Vampire apart in overtime in Game One with Deguara out on fouls.
Deguara was able to play only 19 minutes and 33 seconds as he got into early foul trouble.
But Mono Vampire stayed in the contest throughout before it lost steam in overtime.
The Thai team’s lethal weapons are veteran PBA import Mike Singletary, Fil Am guard Jason Brickman and Filipino import Paul Christian Zamar, son of San Miguel Beer assistant coach David.
A former ABL Finals MVP, Brickman normed double-double numbers in the elims. On Sunday, he came through with a near triple-double game with 15 points, 14 assists and eight rebounds on top of five steals against three turnovers.
Brickman has been Mono Vampire’s biggest edge against any team in the tourney.
Alab swept Mono Vampire in two matches in the elims, taking the first game at 114-87 in Bangkok then the second game at 86-84 in Baliaug, Bulacan.