Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The F2 Logistics Cargo Movers beat out the Petron Blaze Spikers, 25-20, 24-26, 14-25, 25-19,15-4, in Game 2 of the Philippine SuperLiga (PSL) Grand Prix Finals on Thursday at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
The result means there will be a third and deciding game on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Maria Perez paced F2 with 25 points, while Kennedy Bryan added on 15 of her own.
With their backs against the wall, the Cargo Movers started Game 2 on the front foot and quickly took a 8-3 advantage in the opening set.
F2 quickly took the 1-0 advantage after claiming the first set, 25-20.
Petron looked to be cruising to claim the second set with a 20-13 advantage, but the Cargo Movers battled back to tie things up at 24-all.
The Blaze Spikers would find their resolve and battle past F2, 26-24, to level the scores at one set apiece.
There was little stopping Petron in the third set, as they easily got themselves one set away from the championship with a 25-14 thrashing.
A 9-0 flurry to open the fourth set could have spelled doom and gloom for the Cargo Movers, but were able to go on a 4-0 rally themselves to make the scores a more respectable 9-4.
F2 continued to chip away at the Petron advantage and tied the ballgame at 12-all after a check ball.
With the scores tied up 16-all, the Cargo Movers went on a 9-3 rally to shock Petron 25-19.
In the decisive set, there was no stopping F2’s momentum as they cruised past the Blaze Spikers to extend the series.
Lindsay Stalzer posted 24 points in the loss.
F2’s comeback was a nerve-wracking affair, but head coach Ramil De Jesus was hopeful his team could pull out the win and credited Petron’s collapse to thinking they had already won the game.
“Siguro bad side sa kabila dahil nung malayo na yung score, feeling nila tapos na so maaga sila nagcelebrate,” De Jesus said.
[Translation: Maybe it’s bad side for the other team because when we were far behind, they felt like it was done so they celebrated early.]
Game 3 will be played on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
