The Petro Gazz Angels diffused the Chery Tiggo Crossovers in five sets, 25-14, 26-24, 25-13, 21-25, 15-9, to move to the cusp of qualifying to the semifinal round of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.
After giving up a one set lead twice in their contest against the Crossovers, MJ Phillips and Lindsey Vander Weide connived on offense in the endgame to deny the Crossovers a comeback victory.
Phillips scored three points in a row in the winner-take-all fifth set to give Petro Gazz some breathing space, 11-7.
Phillips and Vander Weide negated a powerful performance from Mylene Paat who powered Chery Tiggo to the gritty challenge against the Angels.
Vander Weide scored a block point on Paat to bring Petro Gazz to match point, 14-9.
Aiza Maizo-Pontillas then denied EJ Laure at the net to seal the victory.
"We'll take it, every win. Five, four, three, we need every game eh. So, magandang lesson na 'to coming from our loss last game." said Petro Gazz head coach Rald Ricafort whose team improves to 4-2.
Vander Weide and Phillips tallied 29 and 23 markers, respectively, as Djanel Cheng took Player of the Game honors with seven points and 18 excellent sets.
Paat paced the Crossovers, who fall to 5-2, with 21 markers in the losing effort. Cza Carandang added 17 points of her own while guest player Jelene Cvijovic was limited to just eight points.
Petro Gazz hope to clinch their spot in the semis when they face the UAI Army Lady Troopers on Saturday, November 19. Meanwhile, Chery looks for a bounce back victory over the PLDT High Speed Hitters on Thursday, November 17.
