After reaching the finals of the 2023 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference earlier this year, Petro Gazz failed to replicate its success, dropping to the classification phase of the ongoing Invitationals.
The Angels only managed to secure fourth place with a 3-2 record in a competitive Pool B that featured formidable teams like Cignal, F2 Logistics, Choco Mucho, as well as newcomers Foton and Farm Fresh.
Petro Gazz head coach Oliver Almadro had a simple explanation for their performance – the level of competition in the country’s only professional volleyball league has been continuously escalating with each conference.
“First, it’s really a short tournament. Kumbaga, parang test of ano to eh, test of character and maturity. If you can see naman sa group namin talagang apat na team nagpapatayan talaga sa labanan. Yun naman ang maganda, we’ve given the fans the game na inexpect nila — na hindi every team so-and-so,” said Almadro after the Angels salvaged a ninth-place finish on Thursday.
“So every team should prepare, every team… Walang easy win eh. So, yun yung assessment ko talaga dito yung level ng PVL is really going up and everyone should step up. Players, teams, coaches, should really step up kasi di na biro yung labanan right now. Sobrang taas na ng level so that assessment is we really have to work hard for the next and expect pa na mas tataas pa yung level.”
Almadro emphasized that Petro Gazz must learn to adapt to these changes if they want to excel in the PVL’s season-ending conference.
“So kami, kailangan ganun din iexpect din namin yung sarili namin and kahit kulang kami, we will find a way, make a way with what we have,” said the former Ateneo head coach.
The reigning Reinforced Conference champions took care of business against the upset-seeking Akari, who staged an impressive comeback from a 0-2 start to force a fifth set. Petro Gazz eventually settling for ninth place in the Invitationals with a hard-fought 25-19, 25-18, 20-25, 20-25, 15-7 victory at the Philsports Arena.
For now, Almadro revealed that Petro Gazz will take a well-deserved rest before planning their next course of action.
“Well, we’re really not sure kung may import nga or wala pero whether we have an import or not, we really have to prepare. So ngayon, maximize muna yung pahinga and the Petro Gazz family, the Villavicencio family is really willing to let the players rest and enjoy,” he said.
“Kasi coming from the first conference, ang ikli din nung pahinga eh. So, they will enjoy muna yung pahinga muna nila and then, napag-usapan na din namin, we already planned going into the next coneference so we know when to come back, anong areas na kailangan pa namin magimprove.”
