Petro Gazz tries to recover lost grounds in pursuit of a crucial win that got away the last time out but the Angels face a tougher side also out to regain momentum in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference elims at the Smart Araneta Coliseum today (Saturday).
The Angels failed to cap a stirring fightback from 0-2 down with a faltering windup in the decider, enabling the resilient Cignal HD Spikers to pound out a big five-set escape last Thursday and force a three-way tie for third with the former and the surging F2 Logistics Cargo Movers.
But ranged against Chery Tiggo in the 5:30 p.m. main game, Petro Gazz will need to flash not only its ability to spring back from a tough loss but also withstand the expected assault by the Crossovers who are likewise eager to rebound from a four-set defeat to the Creamline Cool Smashers last weekend.
Despite Chery Tiggo’s loss, coupled with the grand slam-seeking side’s five-set defeat to the Cargo Movers last Tuesday, the Crossovers and the Cool Smashers have secured their spots in the Final Four, another round robin phase where the top two will dispute the crown in a best-of-three series.
Meanwhile, Creamline is fancied to get back on track as it tangles with winless UAI-Army in the 2:30 p.m. opener.
But the Petro Gazz-Chery Tiggo clash remains a toss-up with the Angels and the Crossovers bracing for another frantic finish that has marked the crucial matches among contenders for the last two semis seats.
Petro Gazz coach Rald Ricafort expects to draw another balanced scoring from his starters but hopes they would come up with a tougher stand when play is drawn into another battle of nerves and execution at crunchtime.
Five Angels turned in double-digit outputs against the HD Spikers, including import Lindsey Vander Weide (29), Myla Pablo (17), Djanel Cheng and Aiza Pontillas, who matched 11-point outputs, and Jonah Sabete (10). But they wavered in the stretch, squandering a late three-point lead in the decider and eventually losing by two.
Like his counterpart, Chery Tiggo coach Clarence Esteban is confident of his wards’ knack to rebound from a hard loss with import Jelena Cvijovic and local aces Mylene Paat, EJ Laure, Cza Carandang, Roselle Baliton and Shaya Adorador all primed up for a furious, protracted duel with the Angels.
Games are aired on One Sports, One Sports+, Cignal Play and Smart Gigaplay.
