Angels sweep way to finals

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April 4, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Petro Gazz had waited two years for a chance at finding its way back to the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference finals.

When the opportunity presented itself, the Angels grabbed it in an instant, pounding the Akari Chargers, 25-22, 25-20, 25-18, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night to seal their much-awaited return to the big stage.

Petro Gazz was nothing less than magnificent in accomplishing it with a sweep of three matches in the semifinals for an automatic entry into the best-of-three championship round unfolding Tuesday at the Big Dome.

There, the Angels, winners of two Reinforced Conference titles but never outside it, earned another shot at a breakthrough All-Filipino crown after being denied in their last attempt two years ago by the Creamline Cool Smashers.

They go for the crown against an old, familiar foe in Creamline, which destroyed Choco Mucho, 25-19, 25-15, 25-15, to punch its seventh straight finals appearance and 14th in the last 15 conferences.

“Like everybody else, our goal is to win a championship and this is our chance,” said battle-scarred Petro Gazz setter Chie Saet, who helped facilitate her team’s relentless attacking game.

That offensive onslaught was centered on Myla Pablo, who was like a typhoon on this one, ravaging Akari with hits from all over before finishing with a match-best 16 points.

Last year’s MVP Brooke Van Sickle was her old glorious self as she chipped in 15 hits.

“It was very surreal,” said Van Sickle on her first trip to the Last Dance where she hopes to deliver on a promise – a Petro Gazz championship.

It was a sad ending to what was a euphoric start for Akari, which won its first semis outing versus Choco Mucho only to drop the next two.