Molina: no pressure for Petron to defend the PSL crown

Molina: no pressure for Petron to defend the PSL crown

Voltaire Mendoza (philstar.com) – November 6, 2018 at 1:04 pm

MANILA, Philippines – Petron may have a very powerful team capable of defending his crown, but for the skipper Frances Molina they are competing without any pressure.

Molina, who missed her national team postings due to a recurrent stress fracture injury, will be at the helm when the Blaze Spikers defend their throne at the Filipino Superliga conference All Filipino.

They made a good start when they crushed the young Cocolife team, 25-18, 25-15, 25-18, in the preliminary game, but their courage will certainly be put to the test against six other clubs.

Smart, for its part, scrolls an intact list able to give a chance to Blaze Spikers.

The core of the Giga Hitters competed under the BaliPure banner in the rival league and won the title at the conference opened last year.

The fierce rival F2 Logistics is also a force to be reckoned with as Cignal and Foton have re-examined their respective formations to try to bring down the crown of Petron's head.

But Molina insisted that they were competing without any pressure.

"Although we are the defending champions, we compete without any pressure. We are just here to enjoy the game, "said Molina, who was part of the Petron team that won the 100% Filipino Conference title in 2015 alongside stars Rachel Anne Daquis, Dindin Manabat and Aby. Marano.

"We are always ready for every opponent and we are ready to give our best shot every game."

The Blaze Spikers face Generika-Ayala Tuesday night.

Head coach Shaq Delos Santos said the Lifesavers would not be easy opponents as they were displaying a tight defense in their previous match against Foton.

The award-winning libs Kath Arado and Bia General will be in command of their vaunted air defense as well as beach volleyball aces Bang Pineda, Patty Orendain and Fiola Ceballos.

The former best Filipino athlete, Ria Meneses, formerly the Filipino Athletics Association, is expected to showcase her defensive prowess at the net with Mikaela Lopez and Marlyn Llagoso.

"We can not take this team for granted. We know they have an elite defense, so we have to do our best if we want to defeat them, "said Delos Santos, who coached the national team at the Asian Games and the Asian Women's Cup. stroke last September.

Delos Santos said that there was still a lot to do to defend their crown.

"We have to play one game at a time," he said. "There is still a long way to go."