MANILA, Philippines – The Petro Gazz Angels dominated their way to a second straight win in the 2023 PVL All-Filipino Conference after dismantling the Cignal HD Spikers, 28-26, 25-18, 25-13, in a 2022 Reinforced Conference finals rematch at the PhilSports Arena on Saturday, February 18.

Veteran blocker Remy Palma topscored with 15 points off 10 attacks, 4 blocks, and 1 ace in Petro Gazz’s fourth straight victory at Cignal’s expense on the way to a 2-1 record. The HD Spikers, on the other hand, slid to a 1-3 slate.

Grethcel Soltones, surging back to form after a 2022 Open Conference major knee injury, continued to fill in the void left by top spiker Myla Pablo with 14 points off 13 attacks and 1 block.

After a thrilling first-set escape in extended time, the Angels chipped away at the HD Spikers’ faltering defenses midway through the second, and pulled away with a pivotal 6-1 run, capped with a Roselyn Doria attack error for a 21-14 lead that Cignal failed to recover from.

Petro Gazz essentially ran the same script in the third frame as another 9-2 mid-set rally from a small 7-6 lead gave the Angels a comfortable 16-8 cushion, which eventually ballooned to a 12-point separation at the end off a Ria Meneses net touch.

“It’s a morale booster for us because we’re facing the big teams first,” said Petro Gazz head coach Oliver Almadro in Filipino. “We started with Creamline, Choco Mucho, then Cignal. All big teams.”

“So I said to them, we have to get one game at a time. They did it before [against Cignal] and they can do it again.”

Only Ces Molina breached double-digit scoring in the loss with 11 points, as captain Rachel Anne Daquis backstopped with 9 points and 9 excellent receptions.

Petro Gazz shoots for its third straight win on Thursday, February 23, 6:30 pm, against the PLDT High Speed Hitters, while Cignal attempts to arrest an early free-fall on Saturday, February 25, 6:30 pm, against the up-and-down F2 Cargo Movers. – Rappler.com