Angels firm up semis bid, crush Oragons
PetroGazz fueled its semifinal drive with a dominating 25-19, 25-14, 25-19 victory over ousted Iriga-Navy, gaining a provisional share of second with Pocari-Air Force in the penultimate quarterfinals playdate of the Premier Volleyball League Season 2 Reinforced Conference at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan on Saturday.
Ukrainian Anastasiia Trach, who took a backseat upon the arrival of fellow import Olena Lymareva-Flink early in the elims, got untracked again and fired 17 points, including 15 attack points, as she spearheaded the Angels’ third straight lopsided triumph that kept them in the hunt for one of the last two semis seats in the season-opening conference of the league organized by Sports Vision with a 3-1 card.
“It’s a victory of the whole team as we always put our maximum effort in every game,” said Trach, whose team braces for a key duel with league-leading BanKo-Perlas at the close of the quarters Wednesday.
“Every game is important but I think we’re on the right track.”
The Lady Oragons actually put up a fight midway in the third, closing to within, 17-18, on a 12 cross-court attack. But Nunag broke PetroGazz’s long spell with a hit after a long rally and the Angels took six of the next eight points to complete the rout.
Iriga-Navy closed out its campaign in the tournament backed by Mikasa and Asics with a 1-4 slate and only two wins in 12 games overall.
BanKo-Perlas, which swept its first three quarters matches, was gunning for the third Final Four slot against back-to-the-wall BaliPure at presstime, while the Lady Warriors look to clinch the crucial fourth win with a victory over winless Tacloban, also being played at pressime.
Earlier, Bryan Bagunas unleashed a 26-hit game as he powered Air Force to a 25-21, 24-26, 25-18, 25-23 victory over PLDT Home Fibr as the Jet Spikers took the third seeding in the semis phase of the men’s division.
The national team mainstay, who led National U to this year’s UAAP championship, spiked his solid outing with 22 kills and three kills blocks while producing 14 excellent receptions for Air Force, which will face No. 2 Vice Co. in the Final Four.
PLDT settled for No. 4 and will take on topnotcher and defending champion Cignal HD.
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