PVL: Remy Palma, Grethcel Soltones help Petro Gazz beat Cignal anew
Petro Gazz Angels. PVL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Remy Palma and Grethcel Soltones showed the way for Petro Gazz to dominate Cignal, 28-26, 25-18, 25-13, for its second straight win in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference on Saturday at Philsports Arena.
Despite losing their key players and having a new coach in Oliver Almadro, the Angels reasserted their mastery over the HD Spikers, extending their win streak against their Reinforced Finals opponents to four games since the semifinal round of last year’s season-ending tournament.
Palma, who was one of the key players that tormented Cignal in the Finals, poured in 10 kills, four blocks, and an ace to finish with a game-high 15 points as Petro Gazz rose to a 2-1 record, currently tied with F2 Logistics at third place.
Soltones, who has been shining under Almadro’s system, chipped in 14 points off 13 spikes. Setter Djanel Cheng had 19 excellent sets on top of three points while Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and Jonah Sabete added nine and seven points, respectively.
After losing their opening game to Creamline, Almadro was glad that they were able to bounce back by taking down two contenders in a row, including his former team Choco Mucho last week.
“This is a morale booster for us because we faced big teams to start our campaign, Creamline, Choco Mucho, then Cignal,” said the new Petro Gazz coach in Filipino. “I just told them, we have to get one game at a time and what I said to them is they did it before when they played in the finals, they can do it again. So it’s them. I just motivated and guided them.”
The Angels stood their ground in the first set as they blew a 24-21 advantage with Ces Molina, Rachel Anne Daquis, and Chai Troncoso to tie the set. Petro Gazz reclaimed the set point twice but Cignal was able to equalize it before the Reinforced Conference champion took the opening set with Soltones’ cross-court attack and Gel Cayuna’s error from a 1-2 play that went out.
Petro Gazz took full control of the last two sets, especially in the third.
Cignal failed to win its second straight game, following a straight-set victory over Akari last Tuesday.
Molina led the HD Spikers with 11 points and eight receptions, while Daquis added nine markers and nine receptions but their team gave up 22 errors.
