MANILA, Philippines –Petro Gazz continued to dominate Cignal and came away with a 28 to 26, 25 to 18, 25 to 13 victory to continue its ascent after a painful first game loss.
The HD Spikers, who the Angels swept in the Reinforced Conference finals last year behind then-top hitter Myla Pablo, had to endure some uncomfortable moments during the first set before the Angels could defeat them.
But prior to the commencement of the league’s championship match, the former National University ace chose to join the F2 Logistics camp, and the Angels faltered and suffered against the dependable Creamline Cool Smashers in the inaugurals last February 4.
The Angels’ straight-set rout of the HD Spikers after a lengthy break spoke well of the team’s condition, form, and determination needed to shine in a competitive single round robin elimination tournament between nine teams of equal strength. They, however, recovered strongly with a similar shutout win over the Choco Mucho Flying Titans last February 9.
The seasoned Grethcel Soltones, who is now serving as Petro Gazz’s spearhead, remarked, “We just retained the pace of our game.” With 14 total points and a game-winning block, she found 13 kills.
With the victory, Petro Gazz’s card increased to 2 to 1, moving him into joint third place with F2 Logistic and behind the 3 to 0 scores of Creamline and Chery Tiggo. Cignal dropped to seventh place with a 1 to 3 card.
In addition to registering four blocks, Remy Palma scored 15 points, including 10 on various types of assaults. For the Angels, Djanel Cheng threw 19 good sets, Cienne Cruz finished with 14 excellent receptions, and Jellie Tempiatura concluded with 11 excellent digs.
Soltones, whose performance suffered at times due to injury, continued, “Because all the teams are strong, we’re taking it one game at a time.
Oliver Almadro, coach of the Petro Gazz, remarked, “Yeah, morale booster, I said it as for us, big teams are the first one (opponent) – Creamline, Choco Mucho at Cignal.”
He was alluding to the Angels’ victory over HD Spikers in the Reinforced finals. I will lead and serve as a motivator.
Ces Molina led Cignal with 11 points, while Rachel Anne Daquis scored my markers. Cignal has now lost four straight games to Petro Gazz.
The HD Spikers cranked up 3 consecutive hits behind Molina, Chai Troncoso, and Daquis to force the extension, and the Angels lost three set points in the first game, 24 to 21.
The Angels also came up short in two attempts to win the period, but Soltones’ crosscourt hit and Cignal’s Gel Cayuna’s 1 to 2 play both went wide and allowed the former to take a one-set lead.
The HD Spikers failed to contain the Angels as their offense was plagued by inconsistent plays, while the Angels intensified their onslaught in the following two. In contrast to Cignal’s 33 kills, Petro Gazz racked up 45 kills, and they converted the HD Spikers’ errors into 23 points while also going to give up 14 of their own.
The HD Spikers held the third set close in the beginning, but the Angels went on a 9 to 1 run to lead, 16 to 8, and then negated the former’s back-to-back hits that ended the game at six with another round of attacks, creating a 21 to 13 lead with Daquis’ attack that struck the antenna and Cignal’s net violation accounting for the Angels’ last two points.
