Petro Gazz completed its reverse sweep of Cignal, 25-21, 28-26, 15-25, 25-21 to enter the finals of the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Open Conference, Monday at the FilOil Flying V Arena.
Down by five, Ces Molina and Rose Doria pulled the HD Spikers to within two after a 3-0 spurt, 18-20, in the fourth set.
MJ Phillips and Myla Pablo answered with a 3-0 blast of their own to put Petro Gazz back ahead by five, 23-18.
Another 3-0 rally from Cignal sliced the lead to two, before Grethcel Soltones placed the Angels at match point. Pablo then converted an ace to seal the win.
“We were anticipating na ayun nga, yung turnout na yan that would go for us. Kasi nga, yung momentum,” said Angels head coach Jerry Yee.
“Nung nakuha natin yung second game, wala silang gaanong time to adjust so ayan na yung momentum, plus yung depth ng lineup namin so good win for us,” he added.
Myla Pablo and Aiza Maizo-Pontillas each had 17 points for the Angels.
Remy Palma added 14 points in the victory while Soltones — who scored the last two points for the win — had 12 points, 21 excellent digs, and 12 excellent receptions.
Chie Saet glued things together for Petro Gazz with 36 excellent sets on top of four points. Bang Pineda and Cienne Cruz took turns in defending the floor with the former collecting 13 digs and the latter recording 13 receptions.
The HD Spikers were on the verge of taking the second set, 24-22, before Rachel Daquis had to be taken out due to cramps. Chie Saet took over from there, scoring the crucial points before Myla Pablo snatched the set for the Angels, 28-26, with a drop.
Cignal did not surrender just yet, building an 11-point advantage in the third set, 24-13, off a Ces Molina kill. She also nailed the set-clinching hit to put the HD Spikers on the board at 1-2.
Ces Molina carried the scoring cudgels without Daquis, finishing with 23 points and 24 excellent digs to lead Cignal.
Roselyn Doria chipped in 15 points off nine attacks, five blocks, and an ace while Daquis had eight despite only playing in the first two sets. Ria Meneses was limited to just six points.
Gel Cayuna had 26 excellent sets and seven points while Jheck Dionela provided 21 excellent digs and 14 excellent receptions.
Petro Gazz lost Game One via sweep before pulling out all the stops in a five-set Game Two win to extend the series yesterday.
Game One of the Petro Gazz-Creamline finals series is on Wednesday, 6:00 PM at the Mall of Asia Arena. Meanwhile, Cignal will take on Choco Mucho in the battle for bronze at 3:00 PM.
