By: Ohmer Bautita
With a strong desire to keep their unbeaten streak alive, Wilma Salas and the Petro Gazz Angels survived the BanKo Perlas Spikers, 25-23, 25-11, 21-25, 25-20, in the PVL Reinforced Conference Season 3, Wednesday afternoon at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Salas hammered a whopping 37 points – three-points shy of Kia Bright’s record-setting 40 points in last year’s edition of the import-flavored conference, and two-points behind Alyssa Valdez’s 39-point outing.
The Angels now boast of a pristine 6-0 record. Moreover, the win granted Petro Gazz at least a spot in the playoffs.
“Again one game at a time lang rin. Ang focus naman namin talaga every game ay mag-improve,” Petro Gazz head coach Arnold Laniog said.
Despite a conference-best outing from Salas, it was not a smooth-sailing game for Petro Gazz.
After securing the first two sets, the Perlas Spikers, who opted not to play Kia Bright in the third and fourth sets, caught the Angels off guard, stunning the league-leaders with a 15-5 advantage – a lead that BanKo would never relinquish in order to steal a set from the Angels, who had a 17-set streak prior to the said set.
“But coming to this game, ayun nagiging complacent na rin kung minsan. Better din na natalo kami ng set kanina para ma-realize ng mga players na hindi basta-basta [ang mga games] dahil kung every time na mag-relax ka dyan pwede kang masilat ng kung sino-sino,” Laniog added.
Not wanting to drop any momentum from there on, Salas and Janisa Johnson carried the scoring load, forging a 13-all stalemate in the fourth set, before jumping to a 24-20 cushion. Dzi Gervacio then overcooked a hit that sealed the deal for the Angels.
Johnson had a stellar outing of her own, pouring in 24 points on top of 16 excellent digs.
BanKo, who fell to a 2-4 slate, was led by Nicole Tiamzon with 20 markers while Gervacio supplied 13 points.
On Sunday, Petro Gazz will try to extend their hot streak as they take on the win-hungry Bali Pure at the Imus Sports Complex. BanKo, meanwhile, heads to Iloilo as the Perlas Spikers face Creamline on Saturday, June 15.
