Petro Gazz hopes that the officiating lapses can be addressed moving forward following a controversial call that hounded the Angels’ tight four-set loss to the Creamline Cool Smashers in their crucial semifinals match last Thursday night.
“The Petro Gazz Angels would like to issue a statement on the game between the Angels and the Creamline Cool Smashers yesterday, which has caused some reaction on social media,” the team’s statement opened.
“Much of the reaction by netizens on social media was due to what some perceive as controversial calls or non-calls at the end of 3rd Set, with the most significant moment being the spike of Alyssa Valdez over the block of Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and MJ Phillips,” the statement continued.
With the scores locked at 25-all in the pivotal third frame, Cool Smashers team captain Alyssa Valdez attacked the defense of MJ Phillips and Aiza Maizo-Pontillas.
However, the ball sailed out, which prompted Bobby Celso, the first referee, to award the point to Petro Gazz.
A linesman then signaled a ball touch, which forced Celso to overturn his first call and hand the point to Creamline, giving them a 26-25 advantage.
With no challenges left, the Angels continued to play, and Maizo-Pontillas’ attack went out, handing the Cool Smashers a 2-1 set advantage.
“While the First Referee initially called the spike out and signaled a point for Petro Gazz, he would reverse his call and give the point to Creamline due to the Linesman indicating that a touch on the ball was made by one of the Angels,” Petro Gazz said.
“The reversal of the call caused an uproar among the fans in Philsports and from the players and coaches of Petro Gazz who protested the reversal,” the team added.
The Angels had the chance to send the game to a fifth set after putting up a 24-22 advantage, but Jema Galanza saved the day for Creamline, scoring three of the team’s final four points to take a 27-25, 23-25, 27-25, 26-24 win.
Petro Gazz, who was coming off a rousing four-set win to Chery Tiggo before the loss against the Cool Smashers, fell to a tie with the defending champions with identical 1-1 records.
The Cool Smashers, however, have the upper hand with four points while the Angles only have three points.
Petro Gazz will look to bolster its semifinals bid when they take on the unbeaten Choco Mucho on Sunday, 6:00 PM, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
