By ADRIAN STEWART CO
MANILA – The Foton Tornadoes continued its surge in the second round of the 2016 Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference following a 19-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-19 upset over the F2 Logistics Cargo Movers on Sunday night at the San Juan Arena.
Jaja Santiago led the way with 25 points, including 19 attacks and six blocks, for the Tornadoes, which finished the second round of preliminaries on top of Group A with a 3-0 win-loss slate.
Angeli Araneta and rookie Cherry Rondina chipped in 11 markers apiece, while Bacolod-native Patty Orendain fired nine points and had nine digs with 14 excellent sets for the surging Tornadoes.
“Hindi namin inisip na undefeated sila (F2) ang mindset lang naming heading into the match ay to improve kung ano ‘yung nilaro namin the last time out and I am glad na nagawa namin ‘yun,” said Tornadoes mentor Villet Ponce-De Leon.
After dropping the opening set, the Tornadoes jumped to a 7-4 lead on hits by Santiago and Araneta. The Cargo Movers were able to tie the score at 10-all, but back-to-back hits by Orendain allowed the Tornadoes to build a 16-13 lead.
The Cargo Movers was able to come to within two points several times until 20-18, but back-to-back blocks from Santiago followed by a powerful hit by Rondina closed the set.
The Tornadoes jumped to a 4-0 start in the third set but the Cargo Movers quickly erased it for an 8-all count. Errors from the Cargo Movers followed by hits by Rondina, Orendain and Araneta allowed the Tornadoes to build a 16-11 edge.
After the timeout, the Tornadoes continued to clobber the Cargo Movers as it pulled to a 19-13 lead. A searing fight back by the Cargo Movers allowed them to come to within 23-22, but a Rondina kill closed the set for the Tornadoes.
Despite losing Rondina to an injury early in the third set, the Tornadoes kept its strong start for an 8-5 lead. It later grew to 16-11 on attacks by Ennajie Laure, Orendain and Santiago.
The Tornadoes picked up from where it left off after the technical timeout as their lead ballooned to 21-13 on hits by Orendain. The Cargo Movers made its last push to come to within 23-19, but hits from Santiago ended the match.
Top rookie pick Ara Galang top-scored with 18 points, while Cha Cruz added 17 markers for the Cargo Movers, which suffered its franchise’s first-ever loss in the tournament./PN
