Angels rally past Perlas Spikers, halt 3-game skid

MANILA, Philippines — PetroGazz fought back from the brink with a spirited charge in the middle sets then banked on its superb blocking in the decider to frustrate BanKo-Perlas, 15-25, 18-25, 25-18, 25-20, 15-9, and snap a three-game slide in the Premier Volleyball League Season 2 Reinforced Conference before a big Sunday crowd at the Batangas City Sports Coliseum.

Probing Thai Jutarat Montripila’s game all throughout, Anastasia Trach finally got the better of the power-hitting BanKo reinforcement in the fifth, coming through with back-to-back kill blocks that set the tone for the Angels’ strong start, 4-0, on their way to their very first victory after yielding to the Creamline, Tacloban and BaliPure sides.

A fourth defeat actually loomed for PetroGazz as it dropped the first two sets in lopsided fashion. But the Angels regrouped and unleashed strong finishing kicks in the next two frames to force the decider where Trach simply got untracked.

A kill and two blocks by the Ukrainian hitter and a BanKo set miscue gave PetroGazz a 4-0 cushion and the Angels, who bucked the absence of injured top local scorer Rachel Austero, defended every Perlas Spikers’ charge with Trach coming through with another gem of a block that made it 7-4.

Mary Ann Mendrez also stepped up and fired three straight hits, including two aces, after the Perlas Spikers threatened last at 6-8 and Trach fittingly capped the Angels’ stirring come-from-behind victory by delivering the last two points, including a power hit into an unguarded spot in the middle.

Trach finished with 23 hits and four blocks and drew solid support from Steph Mercado, Cherry Nunag and Wensh Tiu.

Later in the day, Creamline clipped defending champion Pocari-Air Force in a duel of fancied teams, fashioning out a 25-15, 27-25, 17-25, 25-19 victory to regain a share of the lead with idle PayMaya at 3-1 in the season-opening conference of the league organized by Sports Vision and backed by Mikasa and Asics.

The Cool Smashers shook off a third set defeat and a slow start in the fourth with a strong windup with Risa Sato and Alyssa Valdez combining for all but one of the team’s last five points to the delight of the wildly cheering fans. 

Sato scored on a quick attack and a kill block off Pocari import Arielle Love while Valdez, playing before her provincemates, fired a couple of aces as Creamline broke away from a tight 19-18 game to clinch the victory.