Petro Gazz endured a game-long test of skills and poise then loaded up late in the third to scuttle Nxled, 25-23, 25-21, 25-22, and stretch its win run to three in the PVL on Tour at the Candon City Arena in Ilocos Sur on Saturday.
Dragged into a fierce battle from start to finish by the surprisingly tough Chameleons, the Angels fought back from two points down late in the third frame, leaning on their experience as they scored seven of the last nine points to pound out the victory in one-hour and 36 minutes before a highly appreciative crowd of 3,275.
Petro Gazz thus notched its third straight win via sweep following romps over Galeries Tower and Gelfor as it matched arch rival Creamline’s strong start in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference elims.
But the Angels needed to draw clutch plays from playmaker Djanel Cheng and hitter Aiza Pontillas to repel the Chameleons, who looked headed to extending the match after Jho Maraguinot fired a down-the-line hit on Zone I to lift Nxled to a 20-18 lead.
But Petro Gazz scored on a lucky break in the ensuing play as they caught the Chameleons’ defense napping as the former notched a key point despite a flawed reception that dropped onto the latter’s frontcourt.
That proved to be the spark for the Angels’ decisive windup as Cheng came through with a couple of 1-2 plays, the first ending a long exchange of hits and digs that tied it at 20 and the last giving the two-time Reinforced Conference champions a 23-21 cushion.
Pontillas earlier knocked in a hit then delivered her own down-the-line assault to put the Angels at match point. The Chameleons hastened their downfall as setter Kamille Cal fouled up on the service line.
Nxled, which swept Gerflor but lost to F2 Logistics in 3, fell to 1-2.
“We expected Nxled to put up a good fight. They have a good system and good coach,” said Petro Gazz assistant mentor Stephen Patrona, who took over from head coach Timmy Sto. Tomas. “But we did come into this match well-prepared and the team’s experience showed in the end.”
“This is a very big win for us since our next games will be against tough teams,” added Patrona, whose wards will face the F2 Logistics Cargo Movers on Nov. 2 in Santa Rosa, Laguna.
Pontillas topscored for Petro Gazz with 15 points while Grethcel Soltones and Jonah Sabete drilled in 11 and 10 points, respectively. Remy Palma added nine points while Ranya Musa and Cheng chipped in six and five points, respectively.
It was a frustrating setback for the Chameleons, who showed grit and played with a lot of spunk all throughout to give themselves a chance against one of the most fancied teams in the league organized by Sports Vision.
Still, they proved they can measure up with the best in the fold with Lycha Ebon and Camille Victoria matching 10-point outputs and Maraguinot and May Luna came up with nine markers apiece for one of the league’s two newcomers.
