KRISTEL SATUMBAGA

Petro Gazz rediscovered its touch and dumped PLDT, 25-17, 25-23, 25-15, to book the remaining finals berth in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League All Filipino Conference at the Mall of Asia Arena Thursday, March 23.

Jonah Sabete and MJ Phillips conspired for the Angels’ onslaught, firing 15 and 13 points, respectively, to steer the squad to victory in the rubber match of their best-of-three semis affair.

The win not only earned Petro Gazz its fifth finals appearance but also set them up a best-of-three championship date with fancied Creamline starting on Sunday, March 26, at the same venue.

This marks the fourth time that Petro Gazz and Creamline will be facing each for the crown – the last time in last year’s Open Conference where the Cool Smashers won the title.

“We really want to bounce back. (Yesterday) at practice, I can really see the players that they really want to forget what happened in Game 2. It shows their ‘Rise Up’ attitude,” said Petro Gazz coach Oliver Almadro, referring to their 14-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-15 Game 2 loss a few days back.

It was a different story this time as the Angels played with more passion and fire

particularly in the third, where they pulled away from a  slim 7-5 lead for a 17-7 cushion anchored on Phillips and Sabete, who eventually finished with a combined 22 attacks.

Grethcel Soltones also paced the Angels with 12 points while Phillips and Remy Palma took charge of the net defense with six of the team’s 10 blocks.

Jovie Prado and Dell Palomata scored 10 points in a losing cause for PLDT, which was relegated to a best-of-three battle for third place against F2 Logistics.