Petro Gazz carved out a mighty bounce back win with a sweep of Akari, 25-13, 25-14, 25-20, in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference at the Sta. Rosa Sports Complex in Laguna yesterday.
American Lindsey Vander Weide spearheaded the Angels’ return to the win column with a 21-point production in the 76-minute clinic.
Vander Weide made her mark all over the stats sheet with 18 attacks and three blocks laced with four excellent receptions for Petro Gazz’s second win in three outings.
“It was a good win. Obviously, it’s always great to win in three sets but the most important thing is that we really played together today and we improved on some things that we wanted to from the last game. I think that felt really good,” Vander Weide said as the Angels recovered from a stinging four-set defeat at the hands of Creamline last Tuesday.
Petro Gazz came out firing on all cylinders to catch the Chargers by surprise.
Although Akari did show resistance in the third set, taking a brief hold of the lead early in the frame, 5-3, the Angels were quick to adjust.
“They were playing a little tougher in the third. They were getting more balls up. I think they had a little more drive in the third set to play well and it showed. They were keeping up with us but it’s good to finish up in the end,” Vander Weide said.
MJ Phillips hit eight spikes with two aces and a kill block for 11 points while Myla Pablo had eight markers for the Angels, who handed Akari its second straight defeat.
“This is what we really want, to bounce back from our loss against Creamline,” Petro Gazz coach Rald Ricafort said. “I like how the team responded after that loss.”
The Angels outgunned the Chargers, 44-29, had more blocks, 8-4, and landed four aces. Djanel Cheng tallied 14 excellent sets for Petro Gazz.
Akari slid to 1-3 slate.
Dominican import Prisilla Rivera had a quiet 19 points after pouring 30 markers in the Chargers’ five-set setback against league-leading Chery Tiggo last Thursday.
Janine Marciano only had five points two days after dropping 24 markers for Akari in another lost cause.
