MANILA, Philippines — Wilma Salas and Janisa Johnson went on a spiking spree as PetroGazz pulled the rug from under Creamline, 15-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-12, last night to force a deciding Game Three in the Premier Volleyball League Season 3 Reinforced Conference at the jampacked Flying V Center in San Juan City.
The power-hitting Salas and Johnson unleashed 23 points apiece as the Angels rebounded strong from an opening frame setback with a sweep of the next three capped by a remarkable romp in the fourth that spoiled their rivals’ assault at another PVL crown via sweep.
Instead, PetroGazz put its own bid for a league breakthrough in motion with Salas putting in a gem of a game after claiming the Best Foreign player award earlier.
But the Angels won’t have much time to celebrate the equalizer while the Cool Smashers will try to recover fast from their first setback in two months as the two teams dispute the crown in a sudden death today at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo.
Gametime is at 4 p.m.
PacificTown Army also got back at BanKo-Perlas, 25-23, 20-25, 25-20, 25-23, early to force a rubber match in their side of the battle for third.
“My motivation is always to win,” said Johnson. “But definitely we need a lot of rest and get ready for tomorrow (today).”
The Cool Smashers had looked forward to finishing off the Angels and holding a double celebration of sorts after Alyssa Valdez bagged her third Conference MVP trophy.
But after a good start, she and Creamline imports Kuttika Kaewpin and Aleoscar Blanco along with the rest of the locals struggled in the face of the Angels’ strong fightback anchored on Salas and Johnson with PetroGazz locals also stepping up, including Jonah Sabete, Jeanette Panaga, Cherry Nunag, Paneng Mercado and Djanel Cheng.
Meanwhile, other awardees in the season-opening conference of the league organized by Sports Vision and sponsored by Mikasa, Asics and KFC were BanKo-Perlas’ Nicole Tiamzon (1st Best Open Spiker), Dzi Gervacio (Best Opposite Hitter) and Kathy Bersola (1st Middle Blocker), Angela Nunag of PacificTown Army (Best Libero), Creamline’s Jia Morado (Best Setter), PetroGazz’s Cherry Nunag (2nd Best Middle Blocker) and Cuban Wilma Salas (Best Foreign Guest Player).