Tornadoes seek S’liga quarters vs Blaze Spikers

MANILA, Philippines -  Foton tries to formalize its claim on the top seeding in the quarterfinals as it mixes it up with Petron as action in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference shifts to the Batangas City Coliseum today.

The Tornadoes rallied from two sets down to foil the Generika-Ayala Lifesavers in five last Thursday and stretch their win run to five in Pool C. They hope to sustain their charge against the Blaze Spikers, toting a 3-2 mark, in their 7 p.m. encounter.

Petron is reeling from an 11-25, 25-23, 29-27, 26-24 defeat to the Cignal HD Spikers, who improved to 4-1.

Veterans Honey Royse Tubino, Jovelyn Gonzaga and Rachel Anne Daquis took turns in attacks, scoring against Ria Meneses, Mika Reyes and Remy Palma while Chie Saet did a fantastic job setting up the plays.

Tubino had 16 points while Gonzaga and Daquis submitted 14 markers apiece for the HD Spikers, who thwarted the star-studded Blaze Spikers in the crucial stretch of their campaign in the event backed by Senoh, Mikasa, Mueller, Asics and Grand Sport.

But focus will still be on Foton.

After launching a massive revamp in the off-season, the Tornadoes swept their first three games to emerge on top of Pool B in the first round of preliminaries.

They downed Cignal in the second round before booking a heart-stopping 19-25, 20-25, 25-18, 25-15, 15-7 victory over Generika-Ayala to move close to nailing a spot in the quarters.

F2 Logistics (3-2) and Sta. Lucia (2-3) collide in the 5 p.m. in a Pool D duel of the crucial double-header in the league sponsored by Rebisco, Belo and Gold’s Gym with TV5 as official broadcast partner.