SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – The Petro Gazz Angels booted the Choco Mucho Flying Titans out of contention from the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Invitational Conference semifinals with a 28-26, 25-21, 25-16 sweep on Saturday, July 30.
Simply playing for pride, the also-ran Angels relished playing the spoiler role, and rallied to a quick 2-0 set lead to deny the Flying Titans a chance to tie Army Black Mamba in the match points tally.
Given that the Lady Troopers already had 9 match points to Choco Mucho’s 6 prior to the final elimination round game, the Titans had to win in only three or four sets to earn the 3-match point maximum and tie the Army.
The Lady Troopers now march on as the fourth seed and join top-seeded Creamline, second-ranked PLDT, and third-place Cignal in the round-robin semis, where foreign teams Kobe Shinwa of Japan and Kingwhale Taipei of Taiwan will finally make their debuts.
MJ Phillips led the conference-ending win for Petro Gazz with 19 points off 16 attacks, 2 blocks, and 1 ace, while Chie Saet steered the offense with 22 excellent sets.
Myla Pablo and Aiza Maizo-Pontillas scored 14 and 11, respectively, for a Petro Gazz side that ended with a two-game winning streak after losing its first four matches.
Despite a disheartening opening set loss and an 11-17 deficit in the second, Choco Mucho kept fighting and got as near as 19-22 off a Cherry Nunag block on Pontillas.
However, the Titans’ fightback fell just short as Petro Gazz officially eliminated its foe off a Nicole Tiamzon kill for the 25-21 second set finish.
Bearing the brunt of being eliminated in the middle of a game, Choco Mucho only managed to get within 12-15 before the Angels put them out of their misery with a 10-4 finishing kick.
Ponggay Gaston saved the best for last, albeit in a losing effort, and finished with a triple-double of 13 points, 16 excellent digs, and 12 excellent receptions.
Top scorer Kat Tolentino only managed 11 points on an 8-of-39 attack clip as her two-game health-related absence proved costly for the Flying Titans’ once-promising start to the conference. – Rappler.com
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