Petron brushes off first round sweep, eyes PSL crown

MANILA, Philippines — Petron made heads turn when it completed a sweep of the first round of the Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga (PSL) Grand Prix.

 

But for head coach Shaq Delos Santos, going all the way and sweeping the entire tournament is a different story.

 

Facing reporters right after creaming Cocolife in four sets late Thursday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan, Delos Santos said sweeping the Grand Prix is the last thing on their minds, especially with other contenders eager to foil their championship journey.

 

But winning the crown via sweep is nothing new to Delos Santos.

 

Three years ago, he assisted George Pascua in steering the Blaze Spikers to a 13-0 sweep en route to winning the 2015 PSL All-Filipino crown.

 

At that time, Petron had the tools to dominate.

 

The troika of Aby Marano, Dindin Manabat and Most Valuable Player Rachel Anne Daquis was at its peak while the support crew of Fille Cayetano, Mina Aganon, Jen Reyes, Acy Masangkay and Maica Morada played a crucial role in their campaign.

 

In the Grand Prix, however, luck is simply not on their side.

 

After winning the crown in 2014 with Alaina Bergsma of United States and Erica Adachi of Brazil as imports, the Blaze Spikers always advance to the title series only to come up short.

 

A golden chance surfaced last year when they posted a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three series and a 9-0 advantage in the second set of Game 2.

 

Unfortunately, disaster struck and Petron had a massive collapse, prompting F2 Logistics to snatch the crown.

 

And that’s what Delos Reyes wants to avoid.

 

“Of course, it’s (sweep) on our minds,” he said. “We’re already talking about it – and we will continue to talk about it every day, every training. We should not be contented with 7-0 because this is just part of the process to reach our goal.”

 

“We just have to stick to our game plan and just use the 7-0 as an inspiration to work hard and hope for the best.”

 

Against Cocolife, Petron was obviously at its best.

 

Despite missing the services of import Hillary Hurley, the offensive dynamo of the Blaze Spikers was humming with Lindsay Stalzer and Frances Molina taking turns in destroying the defense.

 

The Asset Managers were riding the crest of a four-game winning streak and speculations have it that their head coach in Moro Branislav is dead serious in stopping the Blaze Spikers on their tracks.

 

In the end, the willingness and hunger of Petron prevailed.

 

“The next few games will be very crucial so we’re not yet thinking of scoring a sweep. We’ll just continue to work hard both in trainings and actual games,” Delos Santos said.

 

“It’s like climbing stairs – you have to take it one step at a time. If it’s yours, it’s yours. If the sweep will come, it will come.”