Lindsey Vander Weide and Brooke Van Sickle combined forces to give Petro Gazz a massive boost at the end of the eliminations, stunning PLDT, 25-21, 27-25, 23-25, 25-21, and securing the No. 5 seed in the 2025 PVL Reinforced Conference on Thursday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Angels closed the eliminations with a 5-3 record, tied with the Creamline Cool Smashers and the Cignal Super Spikers.
Creamline claimed the fourth seed with 17 match points, Petro Gazz clinched fifth with 14, and Cignal settled at No. 6 with 13.
Petro Gazz will face Creamline in the knockout quarterfinals.
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“They’re a really tough team. I thought we played well. We’re actually playing our best volleyball now. So that was a good warm-up, I guess, for the next round. Tough team. They kept battling us, but we just stayed focused and pulled through at the end,” said Petro Gazz head coach Gary Van Sickle.
With the Angels at match point, 24-17, the High Speed Hitters launched a last-ditch effort to extend the game.
Kianna Dy, Jessey De Leon, and Savi Davison scored four straight points, cutting the deficit to three, 21-24.
But Vander Weide delivered her 35th point on a sharp follow-up spike after her first attempt was blocked, sealing the match and completing the upset in one hour and 56 minutes.
American outside hitter Vander Weide finished with 32 attacks, two aces, and one block. Meanwhile, Brooke Van Sickle added 27 points, 15 excellent digs, and 14 excellent receptions.
Jules Tolentino was outstanding for the second straight game, tallying 27 excellent sets and also setting up Jonah Sabete and MJ Phillips for 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Bang Pineda contributed 23 excellent digs and 10 excellent receptions.
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On the other hand, PLDT saw its four-game winning streak snapped. It drops to 6-2 in third place heading into the quarterfinals, where it will face Cignal on Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Savi Davison logged 27 points and 17 excellent receptions in the defeat, while Russian import Anastasiia Bavykina added 21 points and 15 receptions.
