By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Petron Blaze strikers opened their Philippine Superliga Grand Prix with a drubbing victory against Generika-Ayala, 25-22, 25-22, 25-21.
Opening the 2020 season with hopes of a three-peat championship run, the Spikers put on a show offensively and showed the league that they are still the team to beat despite their roster overhaul.
The roster change included some key players leaving the squad with the likes of Mika Reyes, Sisi Rondina, Bernadeth Pons, Denden Lazaro, and Rhea Dimaculangan.
What made the match so fiery and exciting is the fact that the key players that helped Petron in their back-to-back championships all transferred to Generika.
Import Kath Bell dominated the entire match, firing from all cylinders with her huge 17 points that exposed Generika’s defense.
Emil Lontoc, the veteran orchestrator for Petron, felt happy for his squad, saying that seeing her players go up against their former teammates isn’t easy at all.
“When I first came I only had 5 players, some were still adjusting to the new system but we worked hard and we will continue to work hard for us to reach our goal. Facing Petron’s former players served as a motivation for us to give our best, of course outside of the court all of us are friends, but on the court we mean business,” Lontoc said.
