Petro Gazz head coach Oliver Almadro would like to believe that the Angels had a good run despite an early exit in the Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference.

The mentor commended his wards for a job well done after a ninth-place finish in the mid-season tournament.

"First, it's really a short tournament. It's like a test of character and maturity," Almadro said after the Angels survived a marathon, 25-19, 25-18, 20-25, 20-25, 15-7, match in the classification round yesterday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Petro Gazz came up short of advancing to the round-robin semifinals after closing the elimination round with a 3-2 win-loss record.

"If you can see in our group, four teams went over each others' throats. We've given the fans the game that they expect — that there's no pushover team. There's no easy win," Almadro said.

The Angels were shown the door last Saturday after losing to Choco Mucho in five sets, missing the semis after a runner-up finish in the All-Filipino Conference.

'First, it's really a short tournament. It's like a test of character and maturity.'

Almadro also admitted that competition was tougher.

"That's my assessment. The (competition) level of PVL is really going up and everyone should step up. Players, teams, coaches, should really step up," he said.

"The level is higher so that assessment is we really have to work hard for the next (tournament) and expect a level higher next time."

Petro Gazz will take a well-deserved break but Almadro said that the Angels will go back to the drawing board to plot their next move heading into the third conference.

The league has yet to announce if it will proceed with the import-laden Reinforced Conference or hold a different tournament following the recommendation of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation to deny PVL clubs' application for international transfer certificates.

"Well, we're really not sure if there will be imports but whether we have an import or not, we really have to prepare. So now we just want to maximize our rest. Because coming off the first conference, we only had a short rest," Almadro said.

"We'll enjoy our rest and then we'll plan (what to do in) the next conference. Know what areas we need to improve on," he added.