MYLA Pablo of Petro Gazz attacks the defense of Michele Gumabao and Pangs Panaga of Creamline during the quarterfinals of the PVL Reinforced Conference on Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Photograph courtesy of PVL
No Lindsey Vander Weide, no problem. And Petro Gazz proved exactly that.
In another dramatic reversal — though not as shocking as No. 8 Akari’s earlier romp over top seed Farm Fresh — the Angels not only survived the frightening early-match loss of import Lindsey Vander Weide to injury but displayed the kind of collective steel that topples giants.
Against perhaps the league’s most dangerous “do-or-die” team, Petro Gazz clipped archrival Creamline, 25-23, 25-19, 16-25, 25-14, to storm into the semifinal round of the PVL Reinforced Conference at the Araneta Coliseum on Monday.
Akari stunned top-ranked Farm Fresh Foxies in straight sets, 28-26, 30-28, 25-21, to barge into the semifinals of the import-laced year-ending conference.
Sidelined after landing on Ranya Musa’s foot early in the first set, Vander Weide would later return in the fourth set, stabilizing the floor and lifting morale, but by then the Angels had already shown they had the courage — and the firepower — to fight without her.
The moment Vander Weide headed to the bench at the start, the Angels were thrust into a crisis that could have easily unraveled them. Creamline thrives on chaos, on turning momentum swings into emotional avalanches, and has historically buried Petro Gazz in championship turning points.
But this time, the Angels refused to fold.
They weathered the fourth-ranked Creamline’s third-set surge — a dominant Cool Smashers run that rekindled memories of past heartbreaks — and responded by regaining control in the fourth. Their composure, poise and insistence on dictating the tempo revealed a team that has matured beyond its role as Creamline’s perennial foil.
And at the center of it all was Myla Pablo.
Thrust into a starring role she once regularly owned years ago, Pablo erupted for 26 points — 23 of them off emphatic, almost defiant, attacks. From the moment Vander Weide exited, she took on the responsibility with the calm of a veteran and the ferocity of her moniker: “Typhoon Pablo.”
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