Petro Gazz sets semis duel vs Chery Tiggo in PNVF tournament

Petro Gazz Angels’ Brooke Van Sickle in the PNVF Champions League. –PNVF PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The surging Chery Tiggo and Petro Gazz clash in a no-tomorrow semifinal match while unbeaten Cignal battles defending titlist College of Saint Benilde for the other final berth in the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) Champions League on Friday at Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Petro Gazz banked on Brooke Van Sickle’s 15-point effort, beating St. Benilde, 25-17, 25-22, 25-17,  to end a two-game skid and capture the third seed on Thursday evening.

In less than 24 hours, the Angels face the surging Chery Tiggo Crossovers, who have won three straight games, in a do-or-die match at 5:30 p.m.

The Lady Blazers, meanwhile, take on the well-rested Cignal HD Spikers in the other semifinal game at 3 p.m.

Filipino-American Van Sickle continued to shine bright in the week-long tournament after nailing 13 kills and two blocks to sweep St. Benilde in just 83 minutes and finish the elimination with a 2-2 record. Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and Jonah Sabete backstopped her with 12 and 11 points, respectively. 

“It’s always good to win. Our main focus, win or lose is to just continue to keep working and building our chemistry as a team” said Van Sickle, a former US NCAA Division 1 star.

Chery TIggo vs Army in the PNVF Champions League. –PNVF PHOTO

Earlier, EJ Laure and Shaya Adorador stepped up for the depleted Chery Tiggo to eliminate the winless Philippine Army, 25-16, 25-14, 26-28, 25-15, and secured the second seed heading to the semifinal with three straight wins.

Starting spikers Eya Laure, Mylene Paat, and Ara Galang sat out but the elder Laure led the charge for the Crossovers with 21 points. Adorador also delivered the goods with 20 points while Cess Robles contributed 14 points.

Chery Tiggo finished the elimination round with a 3-1 record after losing to unbeaten top-seed Cignal (4-0) in the opener.

“We just secured the No.2 seed but winning the semifinal is what matters to us since there will be no advantage. It will be a hard-fought knockout game,” said Chery Tiggo coach KungFu Reyes in Filipino. “Whoever we’ll face, we are ready.”

Aby Maraño played sparingly but Seth Rodriguez took care of the frontline with nine points. Pauline Gaston contributed seven points as Joyme Cagande ran the plays of Reyes.

Army was the lone team eliminated in the five-squad field after losing all of its four matches amid the efforts of Royse Tubino and Jovelyn Gonzaga, who had 13 and 10 points, respectively.