PetroGazz kept piling up wins and building momentum heading to the Final Four, repeating over winless BaliPure, 25-19, 25-22, 25-18, to extend its win streak to seven in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference at the Imus Sports Complex in Cavite yesterday.
Except for a brief scare midway in the second frame, it was an all Angels show with imports American Janisa Johnson and Cuban Wilma Salas taking over again, particularly when the team turned a bit erratic and BaliPure imports Danijela Dzakovic of Montengrin and Alexandra Vajdova of Slovenia scored a couple of hits to put the Water Defenders ahead, 14-9.
The Angels still trailed at 14-17 when they racked up six straight points on back-to-back aces by Jeanette Panaga and a kill block by Cherry Nuñag to go three-up and PetroGazz held sway to steal the set before reasserting its might in the third to complete its sweep of BaliPure, which it also thumped, 25-19, 25-12, 25-15, in the first round last June 5.
With a 7-0 slate, PetroGazz moved three wins from sweeping the double round elims of the season-opening conference of the league organized by Sports Vision with the Angels eyeing repeat victories over the Creamline Cool Smashers on Saturday, the PacificTown Army Lady Troopers on Sunday and the Motolite Power Builders on June 29.
BaliPure fell to 0-6 and would need to sweep its last four matches to stay in the hunt for the last Final Four seat in the tournament sponsored by Mikasa, Asics and KFC.
The high-leaping, power-hitting Johnson put the Angels at set point in the second with a kill, 24-20, but the Water Defenders saved two set points capped by Dzakovic’s block off Johnson, who redeemed herself in the next play by unloading another power hit to secure the victory.
Coming off a four-set victory over BanKo-Perlas last Wednesday, its first after sweeping its first five games without dropping a set, PetroGazz actually struggled in the early going, barely wresting a 16-15 edge in the opening frame but the Angels regrouped and unleashed a strong 9-4 exchange to take the set.
