Angels get back on track; BanKo trips Motolite

Jonah Sabete, PetroGazz’s shy open-hitter, swore the whole team couldn’t wait to get back from its loss to Creamline the previous day.

They, according to the spiker from Bulacan, “wished it was the next morning already,” so they can remove the taste of a bitter five-set defeat which soiled their perfect 7-0 start in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference.

“We really want to get out there again and start winning again,” said Sabete in Filipino.

PetroGazz did exactly that Sunday night, when it crushed PacificTown-Army, 29-27, 25-20, 25-14, at Alonte Sports Center in Biñan, Laguna.

The Angels reclaimed the solo lead with the win, which didn’t come as easy as the final score states as the Lady Troopers forced them to the limit in the opening set.

Djanel Cheng deftly distributed the ball and accounted for 13 excellent sets—mostly to imports Wilma Salas and Janisa Johnson—aside from making three points.

The Lady Troopers absorbed their fourth defeat in eight games.

Earlier, Nicole Tiamzon put an exclamation mark on BanKo Perlas’ come-from-behind win over Motolite, hammering down three straight points that led to a 9-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 17-15 win.

The 5-foot-7 spiker’s heroics allowed Motolite to save match point and chalk up its third win against five defeats.

“We were down two sets and then match point in the fifth, so we needed to reset and bounce back,” said Tiamzon, who scored 18 points.
Tiamzon said they have practiced for such situations which enabled them to get back into the match and deal Motolite its sixth loss in nine games.

“At that point it’s test of character because we’re facing match point and all we want to do was tie it at 15,” added Tiamzon.

The Motolite spikers went up two match points, 14-12 and then against a 15-14. At that point, setter Jem Ferrer found Tiamzon.