Petro Gazz completes PVL semis cast as Sta. Lucia falters late

The Petro Gazz Angels formalized the 2021 Premier Volleyball League Open Conference semifinals cast after eliminating the Sta. Lucia Lady Realtors in a gritty three-set sweep, 25-13, 25-21, 25-22, at the Bacarra, Ilocos Norte bubble on Thursday, August 5.

Off the win that set the Angels’ record at 6-2, the 6-1 Choco Mucho Flying Titans, and 6-2 Chery Tiggo Crossovers are now also assured of their playoff spots along with the defending champions, the 7-1 Creamline Cool Smashers.

Meanwhile, Sta. Lucia crashes out in heartbreaking fashion after dropping to 5-4 for the conference, snapping a four-game winning streak.

Myla Pablo led the Petro Gazz rally with 17 points off 15 attacks, and 2 blocks for Player of the Game honors while Ria Meneses churned out 15 markers off 10 spikes, 4 blocks, and an ace.

After a 13-25 beating in the opening set, the Lady Realtors refocused, and led a back and forth second set all the way to a 19-18 lead. However, the Angels soared back with a key 4-1 run, ending with a Dell Palomata service error for the 23-19 Petro Gazz lead.

Meneses soon forced set point with a quick attack, 24-21, before MJ Phillips gifted the 2-0 lead to the Angels with an attack error that went too low.

That would not be the last time Phillips found herself on the wrong end of a set win as Sta. Lucia saw its 15-10 third frame lead get flipped into a 21-19 Petro Gazz advantage off an 11-4 comeback.

The Lady Realtors kept the game within one, 22-23, but a Djanel Cheng service error followed by another Phillips set-ender off a net touch instantly completed the conference semis cast.

Phillips and Jonah Sabete led the heartbreaking loss with 10 points apiece.

Non-bearing matches

Meanwhile, in the first game of the triple-header slate, the PLDT Home Fibr Hitters notched their second-straight sweep, 25-17, 25-15, 25-19, over the freefalling BaliPure Water Defenders.

After losing their first six games to bow out of contention, the Power Hitters are now holding a 2-6 record, tying the Water Defenders who have lost five straight.

Jorelle Singh led all scorers in this game with 16 points, all off attacks, while Rhea Dimaculangan tallied 23 excellent sets and 12 excellent digs.

Graze Bombita led another losing effort with 9 points, while Genevieve Casugod and Gyra Barroga notched 7 markers each.

In the middle match of the day, the Black Mamba Army Lady Troopers bucked an opening set loss, and downed the Perlas Spikers in four frames, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-13.

Jovelyn Gonzaga topscored with 17 points, all off attacks, while fellow veterans Ging Balse-Pabayo, and Royse Tubino backstopped her efforts with 14 and 13 markers, respectively.

Cherry Nunag paced the loss with a game-high 18 points off 14 attacks, and 4 blocks, while Jho Maraguinot tallied 17 markers off 15 spikes, a block, and an ace.

Perlas will be right back in action on Friday, August 6, with a 1 pm match against Creamline, followed by Petro Gazz’s return at 4 pm for a seeding bout against fellow contender Choco Mucho.

PLDT will then aim for a late three-game winning streak to end the day at 7 pm as they face their sister team, the also-ran Cignal HD Spikers.