Petro Gazz didn’t have the best start but did just enough, thanks to a four-game winning streak, to keep their hopes of defending their Reinforced Conference championship in the Premier Volleyball League alive.
The Angels opened the conference with a sluggish 1-3 record but quickly turned things around. They secured significant wins against Choco Mucho, Creamline, PLDT, and Chery Tiggo to claim the sixth seed in the knockout quarterfinals.
Alongside Petro Gazz’s resurgence was the return of Wilma Salas to elite form after struggling with conditioning early in the tournament.
For Salas – who was part of the Angels’ 2019 Reinforced Conference-winning team alongside the late Janisa Johnson – the competition in the PVL is tougher this year due to improved imports.
“I think in 2019, we had good imports, but I think this year we have better imports. I think this is the difference now. I think this makes winning more difficult,” Salas said after their three-set win against Chery Tiggo on Thursday.
(c) PVL Images
As the sixth seed, the Angels will face third-seeded Creamline in the quarterfinals on Tuesday at 6:00 PM at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
According to the 6-foot-2 Cuban spiker, they need to approach the knockout rounds with the same mentality they had during their winning streak.
“We should go to the court to fight and go to the court smiling, enjoy the game every time. I think this should be the point for Petro Gazz to win,” Salas said.
“Yes, for sure, this game with Creamline, many people are waiting for this game. It’s difficult, but we go to the court to fight,” she added.
In their lone preliminary match-up, Petro Gazz took a 2-0 set lead before Creamline rallied to force a decider.
Ultimately, the Angels held on for a 25-23, 25-19, 20-25, 23-25, 15-12 victory.
