Phillips helps Angels to triumphant start

MANILA, Philippines — Petro Gazz unveiled its new-look squad with a 25-14, 25-20, 23-25, 25-21 win over BaliPure at the start of Pool B action in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Open Conference at the Paco Arena in Manila yesterday.

New spiker MJ Phillips starred with 12 points laced by five blocks to lead four players in double digits for the Angels, who gifted returning mentor Jerry Yee a warm welcome with the impressive win.

Veterans Grethcel Soltones and Remy Palma also had 12 markers as seasoned hitter Aiza Maizo-Pontillas put up 10 in her Petro Gazz debut.

Phillips and Maizo-Pontillas transferred from Sta. Lucia, which took a leave of absence this season, to reinforce the crippled Petro Gazz following the departure of core players Kath Arado to PLDT as well as Ria Meneses and Ces Molina to Cignal.

“Masaya tayo sa panalo syempre pero kumbaga, hindi naman tayo masyado lumayo. We were still with the team but calling the shots again, iba pero masaya,” said Yee, who coached Petro Gazz in its PVL debut in 2018 then observed the team as consultant.

With Yee back at helm, the spirited Angels controlled most of the match save for a cooldown in the third set, where they faced a huge deficit and eventually yielded.

The quartet of Phillips, Soltones, Palma and Maizo-Pontillas then took over, with Chie Saet setting the table with her 21 excellent sets.

Janine Marciano and Geneveve Casugod were the bright spots for Water Defenders with 19 and 11 markers, respectively.

In Pool A, action continues today starting with the debut of retooled Choco Mucho against Black Mamba Army (0-1) at 3 p.m.

F2 Logistics (1-0) then shoots for solo lead in the main game at 6 p.m. opposite the defending champion Chery Tiggo (0-1) that is out to avenge its stunning loss against Cignal in the opener Wednesday.