Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 4) – The Petro Gazz Angels completed a stunning comeback in the semifinals as they ousted top seed Cignal HD Spikers in four sets, 25-21, 28-26, 15-25, 25-22, in the sudden death Game 3 on Monday at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
The Angels did not show any fatigue in the contest, a day after forcing the rubber match in their semifinals series in five thrilling sets.
Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and Myla Pablo paced the Angels with 17 points each, while Gretchel Soltones took the scoring cudgels in the clutch moments of their winning sets to finish with 12 markers.
The Jerry Yee-mentored Petro Gazz side dominated the attacks department in the first set to get ahead against the HD Spikers, who were unbeaten in the conference prior to their Game 2 semifinals loss on Sunday.
The second set was a back-and-forth affair for both teams, but Soltones and Chie Saet steered the Angels to rise from their pair of match point deficits. A Myla Pablo open block point sealed the second set for the Angels.
Cignal showed signs of life in the third set as they unleashed their well-distributed scoring attacks, the reason for their hot start in this year’s Open Conference with a four-game sweep of pool play and dominant win in the quarterfinals.
Petro Gazz sensed it was winning time in the fourth frame as Soltones, Pontillas, and Pablo commanded their successful set plays that exposed the defensive lapses of Cignal.
The HD Spikers scored three straight points in the homestretch of the fourth set to trail by two points, 21-23, but Soltones scored a powerful kill and an unlikely service ace for the victory.
Ces Molina dished out 23 points and Roselyn Doria added 15 markers for Cignal.
It will be Petro Gazz’s second trip to the PVL Open Conference finals. They lost in the 2019 edition of the conference at the hands of the Creamline Cool Smashers, whom they will face again in this year’s best-of-three title showdown starting on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The 2022 PVL Open Conference is the third overall finals stint for the Angels, who topped the 2019 Reinforced Conference.
