By Ivan Saldajeno
SAN JUAN, MM--Petron staved off slow starts in the last two sets before beating Cignal, 25-18, 25-19, 26-24, in the nightcap of the PLDT Home Ultera-Philippine Super Liga All-Filipino Conference's Wednesday twinbill at the FilOil Flying V Arena.
The Blaze Spikers, after dominating the first set, started out slow in the second, but they showed their veteran smarts later on to take the frame.
They started even slower in the third set, where the HD Spikers threatened to stretch the match as they took a 21-17 lead late in the period.
Petron, however, managed to crawl back and force a deadlock at 23 each.
Cignal came to within set point, but the team melted down anew as it gave up crucial errors that handed Petron the win.
Dindin Manabat and Aby Maraño each tallied 12 points for the Blaze Spikers, who punched the first of the two outright semifinal tickets in the tournament after getting their seventh straight win.
Lourdes Clemente also had 12 points for the HD Spikers, who dropped to 1-5.