Petro Gazz will be in full force when it faces Chery Tiggo at the start of the semifinal round Tuesday of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.

MJ Philllips won’t be joining other Filipino spikers who are slated to participate in the ongoing Korean Volleyball League (KOVO) Women’s Asian Quota Draft that will run until Wednesday.

While Creamline’s Tots Carlos and Chery Tiggo’s Mylene Paat are joining the tryouts, Phillips’ status is different since she used to play for Gwangju Al Peppers in the previous KOVO season.

“For the players that already played in the KOVO, we don’t need to go to the tryouts. Only the players that are newcomers. So, I’ll still be here,” Phillips said. 

The 5-foot-9 star middle blocker dished out 11 points, including a block and an ace in her return in the PVL, to help the Angels finish first place at the end of the preliminary round with a 22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-22 win over Nxled over the weekend.

 The Angels landed on top with 28 set points over Choco Mucho (26 points), Chery Tiggo (25 points), as the three teams wound up with identical 9-2 records, while Creamline is fourth with eight wins and three losses. 

With the new system of its Japanese head coach Koji Tsuzurabara, who took over Timmy Sto. Tomas at the beginning of the conference, Phillips admitted she felt nervous despite a roaring return.

“This game was very important to me because I needed a trial run to see how I work with the team and the system and everything,” Phillips said. 

“I was a little shaky, but we’re gonna get there with more practice.”

Despite still trying to get used to the new dynamics of her squad, Phillips wants the Angels to stay aggressive against the Crossovers. 

“I say just go all out, put pressure on them from the beginning, and let’s not wait for them to make errors and stuff. We really have to attack them.”