Petro Gazz nears bronze medal

Myla Pablo caught fire to lead Petro Gazz to a 25-21, 25-15, 22-25, 25-20 win over Choco Mucho to inch closer to the bronze medal of the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference Wednesday at the PCV Socio-Civic and Cultural Center in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte.

Pablo delivered 25 attacks and an ace to finish with 26 points for the Angels, who drew the first blood in their best-of-three series.

Petro Gazz will try to finish the job and secure the bronze when they collide anew at 2 p.m. on Thursday.

With Choco Mucho closing in, 21-22, the Petro Gazz uncorked three straight points, capped by a down-the-line kill from Frances Molina to take the first set.

The Angels committed a service error in the second set, 24-15, giving the Flying Titans a small chance to fight back, but Ponggay Gaston committed an attack error to give the Angels a 2-0 set lead, 25-15.

But the Flying Titans bounced back in the third as they pounced on the errors of Pablo while Kat Tolentino delivered a beautiful cross court kill to secure a 25-22 win, setting the stage for a tightly-fought fourth set.

The Angels, however, displayed their nerves of steel in the fourth as they shattered the 20-all count with five straight points en route to the victory.

“This tournament is more of a mental game. It’s not all about skills. You really have to prepare mentally as an individual and as a team,” Petro Gazz coach Arnold Laniog said.

Grethcel Soltones added 13 points while Chie Saet dished out 26 excellent sets for the Angels, who missed the final showdown following a sorry loss to Creamline in the semifinals.

Creamline and Chery Tiggo are still clashing at press time.