By John Bryan Ulanday
LIPA CITY — Vengeful Petro Gazz vented its ire on Tuguegarao Perlas with a 25-11, 26-24, 19-25, 25-20 victory to salvage the bronze medal in the inaugural Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) Champions League yesterday at the Aquamarine Recreational Center Gym here.
Reeling on a sorry five-setter loss to high school team California Precision Sports (CPS), the Angels made sure to take care of business this time behind a balanced attack led by Ria Meneses.
Ms. Meneses, a national team stalwart, scattered 19 points on 18 kills while Ces Molina (14), Grethcel Soltones (11) and Jessey De Leon (10) threw in solid help for their triumphant rebound victory.
Kath Arado provided floor coverage with 19 digs and 17 receptions while Chie Saet tallied 25 excellent sets for the wards of coach Arnold Laniog.
“All of us just really wanted to bounce back. We wanted to redeem ourselves in this match,” said Ms. Meneses as Petro Gazz ended their campaign with a 3-2 card.
Petro Gazz’s third-place finish here served as its second this year after also bagging the bronze medal in the first pro season of the Premier Volleyball League in Ilocos Norte.
The Angels once again banked on a 2-0 start and though they dropped the third frame, there was no succumbing to another collapse this time with a clincher in the fourth set.
Petro Gazz also led 2-0 against the Antipolo-based CPS the other day but ran out of steam en route to absorbing a massive upset in five thrilling sets.
Heather Anne Guino-o put up 16 markers while Mich Morente and Nicole Tiamson had 13 each for Tuguegarao Perlas, which settled for fourth place with 2-3 slate.
CPS (2-3) and Baguio (0-5) wound up at fifth and sixth, respectively, while unbeaten F2 Logistics (4-0) and Chery Tiggo (3-1) were still disputing the title at press time.
The Champions League is backed by Rebisco, Pitmaster Foundation, Inc., Top Speed, 1Pacman Partylist, Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee as platinum sponsors; F2 Logistics, Asics, PLDT, MVP Sports Foundation and Mikasa as gold sponsors; and BCDA, Philippine Red Cross, Lipa City, Davis Paint and Emerald PVC Pipes, Fittings and Doors as silver sponsors with PNVF godfather, Taguig Rep. Alan Peter S. Cayetano, chairman of the Champions League, giving his full support.