Two down, one to go for Petro Gazz as they continue their furious flight into quarterfinals contention.
The comeback flight continues for Petro Gazz.
After a five-setter against Creamline, the Angels pulled off another comeback against third-seeded PLDT. Before a packed Mall of Asia Arena Crowd, Wilma Salas took off for a career-high 40 points, while Brooke Van Sickle poured in another 32 points.
With a game left, Petro Gazz has re-established their status as conference favorites. Now, it’ll only be a matter of completing their Pool D sweep against Chery Tiggo.
Van Sickle attributed this to Petro Gazz’s improved cohesion and communication. For her, it’s resulted in well-improved gelling and chemistry.
“I feel like everyone has the [fight] mindset, too. It’s like, okay, we put ourselves in the situation. Okay, now let’s fight. And I feel like everyone has that fight mentality right now. Everyone’s doing such a good job of whatever they can produce or give to the team,” she told reporters.
“They’re willing to do that 100 percent. It’s like, say, maybe you’re not doing so hot in a skill. But then they’re like, okay, I feel like the teammates, they’re being really mature about it. And be like, okay, well, if that’s not working, I’m going to produce and give something else to the team.
“So I feel like we’re doing such a good job with helping each other and staying together very well. So yeah, it’s good.”
Fittingly, Salas cited the team as her “personal motivation” behind a career game. This, after scoring six of Petro Gazz’s 16 points in the cardiac fifth set. Two of these came in the endgame, which helped set up Van Sickle’s winning kill.
“My personal motivation is about the team because the point is every time stay together. When I go to the court, we don’t think if we win or not. We think about staying together…I think this is the power of Petro Gazz until now,” she told reporters.
Saturday marks Petro Gazz’s second straight five-setter. While grueling, the Angels have some positive takeaways from such situations.
“Well, the past two games that we won those five sets speaks highly of the attitude of the girls in approaching the game. So we overcome those five sets and hopefully it will change the character of the team,” said assistant coach Stephen Patrona.
These five-setters are timely with Petro Gazz nearing a quarterfinals berth. For Van Sickle, it helps in solidifying the Angels’ composure in crunch time. Besides higher stakes, the quarterfinals will also be employing a knockout format for the conference.
“That’s how great players I feel like are made and great teams are made, is they’re able to stay consistent and very calm in the situations and be able to handle business. So I am really happy that we’re able to get these experiences early on.
“So hopefully when it does matter then we’re able to stay still calm and collected.”
Banner image courtesy of the Premier Volleyball League.