Petro Gazz went to Lindsey Vander Weide when it needed her most as it repulsed Akari, 29-27, 25-22, 19-25, 17-25, 15-11, on Thursday to continue its uphill climb in Pool B in the PVL Reinforced Conference at the Filoil EcoOil Arena.
Vander Weide detonated a 22-point bomb she laced with a pair of powerful kills late in the fifth and deciding set that fended off the Chargers’ uprising and sealed the Angels’ second win in a row and third overall in four outings.
‘We worked really hard in the beginning and even though it went to the fifth set, we set a standard to just reach 15 points that really helped us,’ said Vander Weide.
It sent the Chargers reeling to their first defeat after a strong start that saw them pulling the rug from under the Creamline Cool Smashers and the Chery Tiggo Crossovers in a pair of epic five-set squeakers.
Brooke Van Sickle provided the needed support with 19 hits while MJ Phillips and Myla Pablo chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively.
It was a heartbreaking setback for Akari, which drew strength from Annie Mitchem’s 30-point eruption in erasing an early 2-0 deficit and forcing the decider where the franchise hoped it could pull off a miracle.
It just couldn’t.
Earlier, Chery Tiggo woke up in a deep slumber after smashing Galeries Tower, 25-9, 25-16, 25-23, to claim its first win in four assignments.
The Highrisers sank deeper at 0-4.