MANILA – Dindin Santiago-Manabat came up with crucial hits as Foton Tornadoes scored a 25-23, 27-25, 21-25, 32-30 win over Cignal HD Spikers in the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix at the San Juan Arena.
Returning from an ACL injury, Manabat delivered crucial blows to lift Tornadoes to its fourth victory in eight matches and a shot at a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals.
Tornadoes had a hard time closing out HD Spikers Tuesday night with the scores tied at 30-all but Manabat broke the tie with a cross-court hit and followed it up with a down-the-line attack that let Foton clinch the win.
“They were very eager to win,” said Tornadoes head coach Rommel Abella. “It’s good that we defeated [Cignal] in four sets because it gave us 3 points. It’s a huge development as far as our quarterfinal positioning is concerned.”
Canadian import Elizabeth Wendel led the way with 19 points while Manabat and new import Channon Thomson chipped in with 18 markers apiece for the former Grand Prix titlist Tornadoes.
Jeane Horton and Sonja Milanovic, meanwhile, tallied 26 and 25 markers, respectively, for HD Spikers, which fell to a 3-5 win-loss card, making its remaining two games in the second round against F2 Logistics and Generika-Ayala a must-win.
In another game Serbian import Sara Klisura caught fire to help Cocolife Asset Managers recover from a third-set meltdown to pull off a 25-20, 25-18, 20-25, 25-22 victory over Sta. Lucia Realty.
Klisura unleashed 25 kills, three aces and a block for 29 points while American import Taylor Milton finished with 14 markers for Asset Managers, which improved to 5-3 entering the crucial phase of the classification round./PN
