Petro Gazz Angels. PVL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Petro Gazz cemented its place in the semifinals after sweeping Chery Tiggo, 25-21, 28-26, 25-21, in the PVL All-Filipino Conference at a packed San Agustin Gymnasium in Iloilo on Tuesday.
Four Angels scored in double-digits spearheaded by Grethcel Soltones’ 14 points.
“Of course, it was really hard to go out of town and also win an important match. As you all saw in the first set, it was really an exchange of points, you can see that both teams really needed this win. We’re happy to be an instrument to show their (Angels) talents,” said coach Oliver Almadro, whose squad rose to 6-2.
“I’m happy with these Angels because they’re really working hard. Actually, going into this conference, we didn’t expect anything. We said we’ll grow together and slowly, indeed, we reached what we wanted, which is to be in the semifinals first.”
Petro Gazz’s victory pulled the plug on Chery Tiggo’s semis bid and put PLDT (5-2) into the playoff picture.
Aiza Maizo-Pontillas. PVL PHOTO
Aiza Maizo-Pontillas, who hails from Passi City, Iloilo, added 13 points for the Angels while Remy Palma tallied 12 including a kill as part of a 3-1 spurt to end the match. MJ Phillips chipped in 10.
Fighting for survival, the Crossovers showed sense of desperation after coming back from a 24-17 deficit in the second set that set up a thrilling finish.
Petro Gazz, however, proved to be the steadier team with a costly Chery Tiggo error and a Jonah Sabete hit giving the Angels a 2-0 advantage.
Cza Carandang led all scorers with 16 points for Chery Tiggo, who bowed out of contention with a 4-4 slate.