Petro Gazz head coach Rald Ricafort heaved a sigh of relief on Tuesday night after Chery Tiggo forced a five-setter over Creamline in the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference semifinals.
With the Angels failing to sweep its match-up against Cignal yesterday, Petro Gazz’s only hope of making it into the finals is if the Crossovers beat the Cool Smashers or if the game reaches five sets.
Luckily for Petro Gazz, Chery Tiggo, after losing the opening set, bagged the next two which officially gave them the last slot in the finals.
When the dust settled, the HD Spikers, the Angels, and the Cool Smashers figured in a three-way tie at the top spot with identical 2-1 slates.
Unfortunately for Creamline, they only amassed five points following their five-set encounter against the Crossovers while Cignal and Petro Gazz collected six each.
“Nung nag-start ng game syempre pinagbase namin yung game namin with Chery kasi medyo off sila nun pero nung nakita namin nung third set… Ngayon lang ako nagkaroon ng liga na per point nalaban ng ibang games crucial ganun,” said Ricafort.
“Nakakaiyak hindi mo naman hawak pero… Pero yun nga sabi ko naman sa kanila kanina kung nakabase kami sa iba dasal na lang talaga yun na lang yung magagawa namin e,” he added.
After getting a lucky break in the roller coaster semis, Ricafort vowed that the Angels will be giving their all in the best-of-three finals against the HD Spikers.
“Ganun din yung feeling nila sa amin ng elims e kami naman yung gigil na gigil sila kalaro. Masaya na may bagong rivalry lumalabas yung laro namin pareho sa mga games namin sana mamaximize ulit namin kung ano yung ginawa namin kanina. Mahaba pa to three games pa to. Sana kung ano man yung napakita namin kanina,” said Ricafort.
“So, ime-make sure na lang namin na sulit tong Finals na ito dahil binigay ng ganitong way,” he added.
