Angels breach semifinals, ditch winless Army; Cignal forges key triumph

PVL PHOTO

Before taking on the task of nailing the third semifinal berth in the 2022 Premier Volleyball Reinforced Conference, Petro Gazz import Lindsey Vander Weide spoke to the team about setting a side project.

“I told the team that I wanted to feel good going into [the game against] F2 [Logistics] and the semifinals,” Vander Weide said on Saturday.

The Angels responded with a dominating 25-13, 25-12, 25-19 victory over winless United Auctioneers-Army at Smart Araneta Coliseum that built for them a nice little roll of momentum heading into an expectedly testy duel against the Cargo Movers.

“I think we did that in this game by playing the way we played, so it feels good,” said Vander Weide. After wrapping up the victory over the Lady Troopers in 88 minutes, Petro Gazz can now shift its focus on its upcoming schedule.

“We have F2 as our last game, obviously we wanna win that,” Vander Weide said after leading her team to its fifth win in seven outings. “And then going into [the] semifinals [strong]; we’re in a good spot.”

Petro Gazz will join Creamline (7-1) and Chery Tiggo (6-2) in the semifinals.

The team battles F2 Logistics on Tuesday, with the Cargo Movers hoping to salvage a semifinal appearance after getting tripped by Cignal in Saturday’s nightcap, 25-21, 20-25, 25-14, 25-20.

The HD Spikers assured themselves of at least a tie for the No. 4 spot, with the final semifinalist to emerge after the smoke clears in matchups scheduled on Tuesday.

Cignal is currently at solo fourth at 4-3 and battles Choco Mucho in the last elimination round playdate. The Flying Titans and the Cargo Movers are tied at fifth with 3-4 cards giving rise to the possibility of a three-way tie for fourth.

Ties will be broken via the points system.

The Angels imposed themselves right in the first two sets, collecting 12 of their 15 blocks there and totally outplaying the Lady Troopers, who exited on a 0-8 (win-loss) card.

Petro Gazz coach Rald Ricafort was also pleased with how his wards shone, with Djanel Cheng dishing out 23 excellent sets.

“Our objective was to build momentum going into the semis. It was a good thing that we got the win in three sets,” Ricafort said in Filipino.