Foton recovered from a second set blowout with a tough win in the third then warded off Gerflor’s late fightback to pound out a 26-24, 13-25, 25-21, 26-24 victory and finish 11th in the Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig on Thursday.
The Tornadoes blew three match points in the face of the Defenders’ strong comeback but banked on league veteran Nene Bautista in the clutch to close out their PVL comeback stint on the winning mode.
Bautista dashed the Defenders’ bid to force a decider with a crosscourt blast to break a 24-all count then flicked a down the line hit to close out the match in two hours and four minutes.
Foton, which finished its elims campaign with a 1-4 mark in Pool B, thus wound up No. 11 in the 13-team field in the mid-season conference of the league organized by Sports Vision with teams from Japan and Vietnam spicing up the semis battle.
Though it ended its maiden campaign without a win for 12th place, ahead of fellow newcomer Farm Fresh, Gerflor still showed a lot of promise with its young crew, led by rookies Aly Bertolano and Ethan Arce along with Justine Dorog, Rap Aguilar, Janine Navarro, Andrea Marza and Ivy Perez, posting its biggest showing in a five-set setback to Akari in the prelims.
“It’s a big win for us, a big confidence-boost and exposure for the players. It will motivate us to do better if ever Foton will continue its (PVL) campaign,” said Foton coach Brian Esquivel in Filipino.
Shaya Adorador spiked Foton’s victory with an explosive 22-point game while Seth Rodriguez dominated the middle and finished with 13 markers and Jasmine Nabor and guest player Mary Dapol scored seven points apiece for the Tornadoes.
“I offered my games to my coaches. Without them, I wouldn’t be here. Kung anong meron ako sa skills ay dahil yun sa kanina,” said Adorador. “Babaunin ko na lang yung mga magagandang laro ko sa mga susunod na laro, sa mga training at sana magkaroon pa ng tiwala sa sarili.”
But it was Bautista, 37, who stood out at the finish, providing the poise and class with her marginal hits to finish with nine points.
Four players actually scored in double figures for Gerflor, which fought back from 21-24 down in the fourth but failed to neutralize Bautista’s endgame brilliance. Dorog and Bertolano matched 15-point outputs while Ranya Musa and Arce finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively, for coach Edgar Barroga.
