Petro Gazz no longer controls its semifinals contention fate after losing to Choco Mucho in five sets last Saturday.
Angels’ head coach, Oliver Almadro, shared that their modest performance in the ongoing 2023 Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference could have been better if MJ Phillips were still with the team.
Phillips, a 6-foot middle blocker, was drafted by Korean Volleyball League team Gwangju AI last April, which meant that Petro Gazz needed to let her go.
“Malaking factor din, isa, nawala si MJ. If MJ could’ve been here, malaking bagay sa amin yan. We will just find a way and make good with what we have,” said Almadro, referring to Phillips, one of the Best Middle Blockers of the last All-Filipino Conference.
However, Almadro commended the efforts of Des Clemente and rookie KC Galdones, who jointly tried to fill the big hole left by Phillips.
Clemente played a huge part in the Angels’ resurgence against Choco Mucho after falling two sets to none, providing the spark in the third set before ultimately falling in the match, 22-25, 15-25, 25-22, 25-18, 10-15.
Galdones also shone in Petro Gazz’s earlier matches, particularly against F2 Logistics and Farm Fresh, scoring six points in each game.
“Des Clemente and KC Galdones shared naman nang maayos this game at sa previous games namin, so I’m really happy with the team.
“Sabi ko nga sa kanila, they have to be better than their best every day. So, ako naman, ako yung klase na sinasabi ko na agad kung ano yung role nila sa team. Ito yung role mo, ito yung gagawin mo. They know right away what they should do, and I guess they did deliver, nag-contribute sila,” he added.
Petro Gazz is currently fourth in Pool B after playing all their games, resulting in a 3-2 win-loss card.
Above the Angels are Cignal, Choco Mucho, and F2 Logistics, all at 3-1 with one game remaining on Tuesday.
The HD Spikers and the Flying Titans will knock each other out in the 4 p.m. game, while the Cargo Movers will face Foton at 12 p.m.
Petro Gazz and the three higher teams all have nine points each. Ties are broken via the match points, set ratio, and points ratio in that order.
