MANILA – Petron Blaze Spikers opened its title retention bid in the 2019 Superliga Grand Prix with a 25-19, 25-9, 25-10 sweep over PLDT Home Fibr on Tuesday at San Juan Arena.
Katherine Bell led the way with double-double 15 points and 10 digs, while Stephanie Niemer added 14 markers on nine spikes, three aces and a pair of blocks for the Blaze Spikers.
Mika Reyes was also instrumental with seven points while Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and Remy Palma added six markers apiece for the Blaze Spikers, which also netted 10 excellent digs from newly acquired libero Denden Lazaro.
“We struggled in the first set maybe because it’s just our first game. The players, especially the imports, were too excited,” said Blaze Spikers head coach Ceseal Delos Santos. “Good thing we were able to recover.”
The Blaze Spikers struggled early in the opening set as they were down 5-11 before mounting a fightback to cut the deficit to 18-19. Petron then came up with seven straight points to turn things around.
The defending champions were unstoppable in the succeeding sets with Bell and Niemer heating up mounting big leads 19-7 in the second set and 17-5 in the third frame never looking back.
Grace Lazard was the lone bright spot with 14 points while her fellow reinforcement Kendra Dahlke struggled with only four markers as the PLDT gave up 24 errors in her debut.
In the second game, Filipino-American Kalei Mau caught fire down the stretch, delivering the crucial blows that towed United VC to a 12-25, 15-25, 25-17, 25-22, 15-9 win over the Sta. Lucia Lady Realtors. She finished with 22 points off 19 spikes./PN
