PVL: Petro Gazz whips Akari in bounce-back win

Petro Gazz Angels during a game against the Akari Power Chargers in the PVL Reinforced Conference. PVL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Lindsey Vander Weide led Petro Gazz in making quick work of Akari, 25-13, 25-14, 25-20, in the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference on Saturday at Sta. Rosa Sports Complex in Laguna.

Vander Weide poured in 21 points as the Angels dispatched the Power Chargers in just 76 minutes after coming off their first loss of the conference at the hands of rival Creamline on Tuesday.

The American spiker unloaded 18 kills and three blocks and fueled the Angels’ blazing first set, where they unleashed a 7-0 start to pace their vengeful victory.

“It was a good win. Obviously, it’s always great to win in three sets but the most important thing is that we really played together today and we improved on some things that we wanted to from the last game. I think that felt really good,” said Vander Weide shortly after their second win in three games to tie Choco Mucho in third place.

MJ Phillips helped Vander Weide with 11 points off eight attacks, two aces, and a block. Myla Pablo also nailed the timely hits to finish with eight points, while Remy Palma chipped in five markers, including three of the team’s eight blocks.

“That’s what we wanted to bounce back from our loss to Creamline. We tried our best in that game but we fell short. I liked how the team responded coming from that loss,” said Petro Gazz coach Rald Ricafort as they brace for their next match against F2 Logistics (1-2) on Saturday next week.

After a lopsided first two sets, Jho Maraguinot gave Akari its first taste of the lead in the third, 4-3, while Gen Casugod kept it a tight game tied at 6-all. Petro Gazz tried to pull away with an 18-15 advantage but Prisilla Rivera and Janine Marciano kept them within striking distance, 18-17.

Vander Weide caught fire and scored four straight points to give the Angels a 22-18 spread before Rivera stopped the bleeding. Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and Phillips delivered the finishing touches for Petro Gazz, which sent Akari to its second straight loss.

The Angels dominated the Power Chargers in all departments with a 44-29 differential in spiking, 8-4 in blocking, and 4-0 in aces. Akari also gave up 19 errors.

Rivera carried the offensive load for the Power Chargers with 19 points built on 17 attacks and two blocks as Marciano, the team’s local scorer in the past two games, was limited to 5-of-24 in attacking.

Akari, which dropped to 1-3, faces another acid test on Thursday against Creamline at Philsports Arena.

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