PVL: Petro Gazz shuts down late Gerflor run for second win

Petro Gazz Angels in the PVL All-Filipino Conference in Batangas. –PVL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Petro Gazz leaned on bench players Nicole Tiamzon and Marian Buitre to fend off Gerflor and get its second win, 25-11, 25-4, 25-23, in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference on Saturday in front of a roaring crowd at Batangas City Sports Center.

The new Angels coach Timmy Sto. Tomas drew a spark from second-unit spikers Tiamzon and Buitre, who showed the way with eight points each and put on the finishing touches in the third set that denied the Defenders from extending the match and gave them an early 2-0 lead in the season-ending tournament.

The pair out of the University of the Philippines, who only played in the last two sets,  held the new-look Gerflor to the second-lowest scoring output in a set, four points, in the second— just a marker ahead of the defunct Balipure’s three-point output in the second set against Creamline in the Open Conference two years ago.

“I think I’ll give credit to the girls because we saw their hard work and perseverance inside the court. Even though we had long rallies in that set, we were able to get great points. I’m also happy with our service as we made it hard for Gerflor to receive,” said Sto. Tomas in Filipino after holding the Defenders to a 14-of-61 reception rate.

Petro Gazz Angels’ Marian Buitre. –PVL PHOTO

Gerflor, though, put on a fight and erased an 11-17 deficit to tied the game to 22-all after Danika Gendrauli’s back-to-back kills. Buitre came to the rescue for Petro Gazz with a down-the-line kill and Tiamzon nailed a spike to put Petro Gazz at match point, 24-22.

“I’m so lucky and blessed with these girls because they know their roles and their respective jobs. Whoever checks in will deliver,” said Sto. Tomas.

Grethcel Soltones had seven points, 14 digs, and five receptions to follow up their dominant win over Galeries Tower last week. Ranya Musa also shone as a starter with seven markers against her former team, while Remy Palma and Jonah Sabete added six each with Djanel Cheng dishing out 11 excellent sets.

Sto. Tomas and the Angels also enjoyed playing in an out of town match. They are set for another one in Candon, Ilocos Sur against the Nxled Chameleons on Saturday next week.

“Of course, I’m very thankful because very supportive. We all know that volleyball is life here in Batangas and if they have time to watch PVL games in Manila, hopefully, they will be able to drop by,” he said. “We’re looking forward to [our match against Nxled] because we wanna see how are we faring the system coach Taka (Minowa).”

Gerflor remained winless in two games as they only had a total of 18 kills in the match against Petro Gazz’s 40. Mary Grace Berte and Menchie Tubiera carried their team with six and five points, respectively.