Jonah Sabete of the Petro Gazz Angels. Photo from PVL Media Bureau
MANILA (UPDATED) – Petro Gazz has finally regained its winning ways in the 2023 PVL All-Filipino Conference.
The Angels defeated also-ran Farm Fresh, 25-22, 19-25, 25-16, 26-24 on Tuesday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City to snap their four-game skid.
It was veteran open spiker Jonah Sabete who carried the offense as she put up 21 points on 16 attacks, with three blocks and two aces.
Grethcel Soltones and Aiza Maizo-Pontillas completed the supporting cast for the Gazz Angels, with 16 and 13 markers, respectively.
Hard-hitting Trisha Tubu, meanwhile, paced the Foxies with 20 points.
It looked like Petro Gazz was owning the first set with a 7-1 run to create a 20-15 separation, but Farm Fresh was resilient enough to answer back, surging through rallies to even snatch the lead at 22-21.
But that was Foxies' last taste of the lead in Set 1, as Djanel Cheng and Sabete's defense and offense delivered the frame for the red shirts.
Foxies wrote a different narrative in Set 2, as they claimed a 5-point cushion midway in the frame while not letting the Gazz Angels return.
Kate Santiago scored off the block to give her squad the set point, and Maizo-Pontillas' last attempt went wide to concede the set.
In the clinching frame, neither team gave an edge as they forged a 21-all tie. The lead went back to Petro Gazz when Alyssa Bertolano sent an attack outside, 22-21, before Soltones pushed the lead to two points, forcing the orange shirts to call a timeout.
Positive events happened a bit for Farm Fresh after the break, as Soltones committed an untimely net touch while Bertolano compensated for her last failed attempt and scored a service ace to again tie the ball game.
Farm Fresh reached set point after Petro Gazz committed a double contact violation, but Santiago's attack went out, which again tied the set at 24-all.
Soltones willed her team to take it all as she scored the last two points for the Angels to victory on back-to-back kills.
Petro Gazz remained in the playoff hunt at 5-4, while Farm Fresh is at 1-8 slate.