Ilocos Norte—Petro Gazz, a bit startled facing a rival with a disparate starting roster, readjusted quickly and walloped Choco Mucho, 25-20, 25-18, 25-21, to clinch third place honors in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference at the PCV Socio Civic and Cultural Center in Bacarra here yesterday.
Myla Pablo sustained her crisp-hitting ways, firing away 14 attack points for a 16-point output while Gretchel Soltones, Seth Rodriguez and Ces Molina backed her up with seven, six and five points, respectively, that proved enough to topple a team that came into the match sans two its key players.
The fourth-seeded Angels thus swept their best-of-three series for third following their four-set victory Wednesday that saw Choco Mucho’s skipper Maddie Madayag limp out of the game due to knee injury.
“It’s all worth the sacrifices and hard work of the players and as a team —from our bubble training then in the one month that we’ve been here. It’s a different kind of challenge—mentally and emotionally,” said Petro Gazz coach Arnold Laniog, whose wards blew a 2-1 set lead in the opener of their semis series with the Creamline Cool Smashers, who went on to steal Game One before winning the next to advance.
Counterpart Oliver Almadro, meanwhile, opted to keep top hitter Kat Tolentino and middle blocker Bea de Leon out of the court and fielded in his two other starters—spiker Ponggay Gaston and setter Deanna Wong —later in the third when the Angels were already on the verge of wrapping up their bronze medal effort in the country’s inaugural pro volley league.
Without its stars, Choco Mucho had to lean on Caitlyn Viray, Necole Ebuen, May Angustia, Shannel Palec and Kim Gequillana, who combined for 33 points with Gaston sneaking in two hits in her limited stint in the one-hour, 19-minute encounter.
Though the Flying Ttians had kept it close majority of the match, the Angels proved to be more solid and a lot cohesive, finishing with 41 attack points, five block points and five aces. Choco Mucho had 32 spikes, four blocks and one ace.
In control of the match, Laniog also took the chance to try different mix with Ivy Perez, Jessey de Leon, Remy Palma, Mary Ann Mendrez, Jerrill Malabanan and Relea Saet chipping in a combined 15-point output.
Ria Meneses, the league’s top blocker in the elims, saw action only in the first two sets and finished with two points.