Petro Gazz Angels celebrate after winning Game 1 of the PVL Reinforced Conference against the Cignal HD Spikers. PVL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Lindsey Vander Weide credited Djanel Cheng’s superb playmaking for her 34-point explosion in Petro Gazz’s straight-sets win over Cignal, 25-21, 27-25, 37-35, to inch closer to the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference crown on Thursday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The American spiker out of University of Oregon dropped her career-best built on 31 attacks, two blocks, and an ace, including the clutch spikes in the extended third set to push the Angels to the brink of winning their second straight Reinforced title.
But despite her brilliance, Vander Weide made sure to share the glory with Cheng, who dished out 18 excellent sets.
“The whole game felt great. My energy with Cheng was excellent today, her setting was superb today so it was easy to put balls away. She was putting me in the perfect position, it felt great,” Vander Weide said shortly after Game 1.
The 25-year-old import also praised her local teammates, led by Aiza Maizo-Pontillas, Myla Pablo, and MJ Phillips, for displaying grace under pressure in the third, where they held nine matchpoint advantages and saved four setpoint disadvantages to prevail in the pulsating set.
“Normally, I’m stressed in games when we’re super close in the end like the 20s, this game, we were so locked in, it didn’t matter who was up, we were gonna fight back and score and we did that in the second set, and the third set and that was the most impressive thing for me, how we held up in those moments,” Vander Weide said.
With Petro Gazz a win away from completing a golden repeat three years after the last Reinforced Conference, Vander Weide remains locked in to end the series on Tuesday at Philsports Arena.
“Same mindset that we’ve had the past few games. We’re really focused right now, we’ve been playing really well so we just have to stay consistent and keep the same energy that we have,” she said.