Games tomorrow (The Arena, San Juan)
2:30 p.m. – Philips Gold vs Shopinas
4:30 p.m. – Main N’ Tail vs Cignal
MANILA, Philippines - Shopinas rebounded from a third-set breakdown and repulsed Mane N’ Tail, 25-22, 25-22, 16-25, 25-14, to mark its debut in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference at the Alonte Sports Complex in Biñan, Laguna late Thursday.
Kim Kianna Dy, playing out of La Salle, dished out a superb all-around game to help propel the Lady Clickers to victory. She fired a match-best 17 hits, 10 coming from kills, four on blocks and three on service aces.
Stephanie Mercado, a former Lady Spiker, scattered 10 markers while Arianna May Angustia added nine points and Charleen Cruz and Michelle Laborte churned out eight markers apiece.
After struggling to snatch the first two sets, the Lady Clickers fell into a maze of errors and had no answer to the power-hitting Honey Royce Tubino, a former NCAA MVP, as the Lady Stallions dominated the third set.
But Dy sparked Shopinas’ fightback in the fourth frame as the Lady Clickers stormed out of reach by shutting down Tubino, who ended up with 14 hits.
Shopinas coach Ramil de Jesus rued their lack of practice time for their shaky start.
“We only practiced three times, that’s why we had a tough time in this match,” said de Jesus, who steered La Salle to four straight championships a few years ago. “Hopefully, we can log in more practice time for us to get that rhythm.”
In the other game, Petron Blaze also turned back Foton, 25-18, 26-24, 20-25, 25-19, to wrest the solo lead with a 2-0 card. The Blaze Spikers whipped the Philips Gold spikers, 25-16, 25-18, 25-23, last week.