PVL: Petro Gazz out to make most of finals stint after lucky break
MANILA, Philippines—It was a lucky day for Petro Gazz as the team still made it to the 2022 Premier League Volleyball Conference Finals despite failing to win consecutive sets against Cignal on Wednesday. Three at the Philsports Arena.
After failing to knock out Cignal in the third set after taking a 24-21 lead, Petro Gazz left the finals to Chery Tiggo.
Crossovers granted the Angels wishes after winning the second and third sets to knock Creamline Cool Smashers out of the finals. Creamline needed to win in three or four sets to qualify for the finals, which is why a five-set win over Chery Tiggo still helped Petro Gazz qualify for the championship.
Cignal, Petro Gazz and Creamline drew 2-1 to end the semi-finals but the Angels picked up six points from their two wins, one more than the Cool Smashers.
Meanwhile, Cignal still won the first final thanks to a superior fixed score despite losing 14-25, 21-25, 27-25, 19-25 to Petro Gazz in the first game.
The Angels’ rookie coach, Rald Ricafort, celebrated after the Crossovers dominated the third set, denying the Cool Smashers a Grand Slam spot and breaking their final streak in seventh place.
“I told them before. Fate is no longer in our hands so we can’t do anything but pray,” Ricafort said in Filipino while holding back tears during the interview. “I can’t imagine cheering for another team because they’re our opponents but our season is in the game.”
“We’re so lucky. We’ll take it and for sure we’ll thank Chery. We’ll make sure to make the most of the final once we get this opportunity,” he added.
Petro Gazz is defending its crown from the 2019 Boost Conference before the import-heavy tournament was interrupted for three years due to the pandemic.
With only four players remaining on the championship list, Djanel Cheng, Jonah Sabete, Cienne Cruz and Chie Saet, the Angels coach reiterated that their goal this season is to recover from a poor performance. at the Invitationals, where they missed the semi-finals.
“Our goal is to enjoy the process of coming from a convention with just two wins. We want to be back in this tournament. We went through a lot of ups and downs but in the end, we still made it to the final by luck,” Ricafort said.
With both teams reaching the final in an uncanny fashion, Ricafort looks forward to an all-out championship streak as his players are led by Lindsey Vander Weide, Myla Pablo, MJ Phillips and Aiza Maizo- Pontillas battles HD Spikers’ Tai Bierria, Ces Molina, Ria Meneses and Rachel Anne Daquis.
“For sure, both teams will give their all in the final. We will do our best in the final. With this wish, I am sure my players are very excited and eager to play in the championship,” he said.
“I am delighted to be a part of this new competition. We hope to maximize this opportunity. I hope we can maintain the momentum from the previous win.”
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