Angels triumph, live to fight another day

PetroGazz made sure its first finals appearance wouldn’t end on Saturday and brought down Creamline, 15-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-12, in Game 2 of the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference title series at Filoil Flying V Centre.

Still stung by a late overreach call on Cherry Nunag that cost them Game 1, the Angels got sweet revenge after forcing a do-or-die battle for the crown.

And both teams won’t have to wait that long to decide who brings home the hardware.

Game 3 of the championship—and for the other series for the bronze—will be served on Sunday at Ynares Center in hilly Antipolo City.

PacificTown-Army also forced sudden death in the battle for third after trimming BanKo-Perlas, 25-23, 20-25, 25-20, 25-23, in an earlier match.

It was a vindication of sorts for the Army squad, which had a 2-0 set lead in Game 1 only to fade in the next three sets.

Now, PacificTown will need to also regroup immediately for its own knockout match for the second runner-up trophy.

PetroGazz, meanwhile, was straight up dominant in the fourth frame and raced to a 24-10 lead, as if to make sure that there would be no repeat of a late game-deciding call that the Angels felt stumped their rally in Game 1.

Wilma Salas and Janisa Johnson pitched in 23 points for the Angels.

“My motivation is always to win,” said Johnson. “But definitely we need a lot of rest and get ready for tomorrow (Sunday).”

The PetroGazz victory put a damper on Creamline star Alyssa Valdez’s coronation day as conference MVP.

Valdez finished with 17 points for the defending champions on a day she was also named one of two best open spikers.

Valdez thus won her third MVP plum in the tournament that used to be known as the Shakey’s V-League.

Other awardees were  BanKo-Perlas’ Nicole Tiamzon (1st best open spiker), Dzi Gervacio (best opposite hitter) and Kathy Bersola (1st middle blocker), Angela Nunag of PacificTown Army (best libero), Creamline’s Jia Morado (best setter), PetroGazz’s Cherry Nunag (2nd best middle blocker) and Cuban Wilma Salas (best foreign guest player).