The country’s fiercest volleyball rivalry takes centerstage anew after Petron and F2 Logistics dismantled their respective foes in the semifinals of the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference late Tuesday at the Muntinlupa Sports Center.
The Blaze Spikers crushed Cignal, 25-21, 25-20, 25-16, while the Cargo Movers eked out a pulsating 21-25, 25-15, 25-20, 19-25, 15-5 victory over Generika-Ayala to forge a rematch of their best-of-three finals duel.
Game 1 of the finals of this prestigious women’s club league bankrolled by Isuzu, Mikasa, Asics, Senoh, Mueller, UCPB Gen and Bizooku with Genius Sports as technical sponsor unwraps this Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Meanwhile, University of Santo Tomas seeks to sweep the preliminaries when it battles a listless De La Salle-Dasmarinas side in the Collegiate Grand Slam of this tourney that also has ESPN5, Hyper HD and Aksyon TV as broadcast partners.
Action starts at 7 p.m. following the 4:15 p.m. encounter between University of the East and Colegio San Agustin-Binan.
But the spotlight will be trained on the titular stage, which has been serving as the battleground of both Petron and F2 Logistics the past couple of years.
Their first finals encounter was in 2016 when the Cargo Movers knocked the crown off the Blaze Spikers’ heads with a masterful conquest to clinch the All-Filipino crown.
The following year, Petron stacked its roster with quality players like Mika Reyes, Bernadeth Pons, Remy Palma and Sisi Rondina to engineer a massive fightback and regain the All-Filipino jewel.
The Blaze Spikers, however, fell off the top the following conference when the Cargo Movers recruited Maria Jose Perez of Venezuela and Kennedy Bryan of United States to reinforce them in claiming the Grand Prix title.
Then, Petron stormed back and dethroned F2 Logistics, thanks to the arrival of Katherine Bell who replaced the injured Hillary Hurley down the crucial stretch of the 2018 Grand Prix, sparking talks that the Blaze Spikers were looking to become the first team to sweep the season.
But the Cargo Movers didn’t allow it.
F2 Logistics averted the plan with back-to-back victories in the best-of-three finals of the Invitational Conference, prompting Petron to go back to the drawing board and plot its revenge in the All-Filipino Conference.
The Blaze Spikers played with fire in their eyes as they posted 10 straight wins in the preliminaries followed by impressive wins over Sta. Lucia in the quarterfinals and Cignal in the semifinals to move two wins shy of winning the title.
Again, F2 Logistics is standing on its path.
“Our win over Petron depends on the hunger and willingness of my players,” said F2 Logistics head coach Ramil de Jesus, anticipating another war against arguably one of the most talented clubs ever assembled.
“Our battle against them always goes down the wire. It won’t be easy. That’s why we will use the next few days to polish our game and prepare against them.”
Petron coach Shaq Delos Santos said although they prevailed over F2 Logistics in their first meeting, it no longer matters as the Cargo Movers didn’t drop a single match since then.
“They’re on a roll,” said Delos Santos, whose team is also on the verge of sweeping the conference.
“We have to do our homework and prepare for them because it’s really hard to stop a squad that is reaching its peak. The finals will be anybody’s ballgame.””‹