PETRO Gazz forged a fourth title showdown with Creamline, advancing to the finals with a convincing 25-17, 25-23, 25-15 victory over PLDT in their sudden death for the other championship berth in the Premier Volleyball League All Filipino Conference at SM Mall of Asia Arena on Thursday night.
A fiery run midway in the opening frame, a narrow escape in a back-and-forth second set and a dominant closeout completed the Angels’ mastery of the High Speed Hitters, who succumbed to their rivals’ sustained firepower, baffling quick attacks and superb blocking.
They also reeled from the sidelining of top hitter Mean Mendrez, who accidentally landed on Petro Gazz’s Aiza Pontillas’ foot in the third set. She did return but only after the Angels have established control and were already gearing up for another shot at PVL glory.
The Angels set the tone for the rout after storming to a 16-11 lead in the first set and then rolling to an eight-point romp. Dragged into a tight, furious second-set skirmish, the two-time Reinforced Conference champions used their veteran smarts to pull through, going 2-0 set up on MJ Phillips’ stinging back-to-back quick plays.
Remy Palma then took over in the third, racking up three straight points to key Petro Gazz’s big 11-5 start before the Angels pulled away at 20-9 on their way to winning their best-of-three semis matchup.
The Angels, however, turned what was expected to be a tight, frenetic duel into a romp with the lefty Pontillas hammering out a kill right in the heart of the High Speed Hitters’ defense to cap their emphatic one-hour, 53-minute victory.
Game One of the best-of-three finals is set at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday with the Cool Smashers looking for a sixth championship and the Angels seeking their third and a second straight crown after topping the Reinforced Conference last December.
Creamline beat Petro Gazz in last year’s Open Conference.