Angels rip Jet Spikers, give Motolite free semis ride
PetroGazz completed the semifinal cast on Wednesday night after gunning down Air Force, 25-20, 25-15, 25-14, in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference at Filoil Flying V Centre.
The reigning Reinforced Conference champion was hardly threatened in securing its 10th win in 14 games to Creamline and BanKo Perlas.
The Angels also effectively qualified resting Motolite, which at 9-5 is already beyond reach of PacificTown-Army and Air Force, who are tied at fifth place with 6-8 cards.
Jonah Sabeta topscored with 14 points for PetroGazz.
Earlier, even without team leader Alyssa Valdez, Creamline notched its 14th win after routing PacificTown-Army, 25-15, 25-18, 25-22.
Valdez sat it out for the Cool Smashers, who are already in the semifinals since last week and are setting up for a sweep of the preliminaries.
“We are very happy with the win, and we will try to go for straight wins,” said Risa Sato, the Fil-Japanese middle blocker who scored 12 points.
Creamline has semis qualifier BanKo Perlas and semis aspirant Motolite as its last two opponents.
Valdez was in uniform but stayed in the sideline as Creamline coach Tai Bundit decided to rest her for her upcoming trip to Japan where she will train with the national team along with teammate Jia Morado.
The Lady Troopers appeared to have a tight grasp of the third set, leading, 16-9, before the Cool Smashers unleashed a 10-3 rally that turned things around.