Foton on the rise with Jaja, Dindin, imports

MANILA, Philippines — Rejuvenated Foton built some momentum heading into the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix quarterfinals as it sealed a two-game streak to end the elims via a 25-20, 20-25, 25-22, 25-11 disposal of Generika-Ayala Thursday night at Filoil Flying V Center.

Fresh from snapping an 11-game skid with a 12-25, 25-14, 24-20, 25-15 victory over Sta. Lucia two days before, the Tornadoes went all out in an effort to finish the elims strong and were rewarded with their third win in 14 games.

The back-to-back triumphs enabled the Foton belles to take the No. 7 seeding in the quarters, where No. 2 and twice-to-beat F2 Logistics stands in their way. The F2-Foton duel blasts off tonight at 6 p.m. after the 4 p.m. faceoff between unbeaten Petron and No. 8 Sta. Lucia.   

“We really wanted to come up with a strong finish,” said Foton coach Aaron Velez, whose charges are slowly gaining chemistry with returning Japan league campaigners Jaja Santiago and Dindin Manabat and imports Courtney Felinski and Milagros Collar.

“We feel that by winning our last couple of games, we will have the momentum going into the next round. I just hope that we can translate that confidence into a victory in the quarterfinals,” he added.

Felinski and Collar dropped 23 and 21, respectively, while Santiago added 12 for Foton, which outlasted Generika-Ayala in a tight battle in the first and third, where they broke away from 20-20 and 19-19 standoffs, them stormed to a 16-9 headstart in the fourth to ice it.

“It’s a really great time to be hitting our stride and this back-to-back gives us confidence and good energy to go into the quarterfinals,” said Felinski. 

Foton  faces a tall order as it needs to beat the fancied Cargo Movers twice to advance to the semis.

F2 took the bonus for finishing the classification at second with 11-3 but coach Ramil de Jesus is wary of the Tornadoes.

“If we had a choice, I really wouldn’t want to match up with Foton, they’re a tough team especially with the Santiago sisters back in the fold. But we’ll prepare for them,” said De Jesus.