MANILA, Philippines – Lindsey Vander Weide, a Petro Gazz import, knew she wanted to chat to her colleagues to raise their spirits before their match against the second-seeded Chery Tiggo after their demoralizing loss to Creamline in their semi-final opener.

In order to play like champions, the American reinforcement urged the Angels before the game.

Vander Weide remarked after they eliminated the Crossovers from finals contention, “I told the squad before this game that we needed to believe that we could picture ourselves in the championship and be the winning team.

“I said that we needed to play that way because I felt like in our first game against Creamline we weren’t playing like we could see ourselves at the end with the championship and I think our mindset kind of changed today. We took care of it because we were aware of what needed to be done and it felt amazing, she continued.

In response to Vander Weide’s rallying cry, the entire Petro Gazz team stepped up and dominated the Crossovers 25 to 15, 25 to 17, 25 to 13, putting them back in the running for a position in the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference finals.

The team’s captain, Vander Weide, made sure to contribute inside the court as well. She led the Angels to an improved 1 to 1 semifinal record with her 18 points on 14 attacks and four aces.

The 25-year-old outside spiker stated, “Like I said, I told them that we had to believe in ourselves, but I don’t want us to be overconfident obviously, but we’ve been preparing for so long, we know our potential, and we just need to go out there and play volleyball.”

In an effort to reach the finals for the first time since 2019, Chery Tiggo is no longer a factor, thus Vander Weide and the Angels focus on the unbeaten Cignal.

“I mean, we took them to five, they’re a good team, they’re really dynamic, all-around, and they have great players, but it’s a team that we played well against in some sets, so we know how to compete against them. All we must do is repeat the strategies we used to win those sets.