Lindsey Vander Weide fought through a high fever to power Petro Gazz past erstwhile unbeaten Akari, 29-27, 25-22, 19-25, 17-25, 15-11, in the PVL Reinforced Conference on Thursday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Despite missing practice on the eve of the match due to a 40-degree fever, Vander Weide suited up and delivered 22 points, including the Angels’ last three, to avert a meltdown after squandering a two-set lead. ‘I’m not feeling great, but I was worse the last two days,’ said Vander Weide, who finished with 20 kills and two blocks. ‘So I knew when I woke up and was at least feeling decent that I was 100% going to play the game no matter what. I wasn’t sure how great I was going to do. I think I could have done a little bit better, but for how I’m feeling right now, I’m happy that we won.’
‘At the end of the day, we pulled it out. I don’t love how we played in the third and fourth set, but the fact that we still won in five after losing the momentum just really shows what we can do as a team.’ Petro Gazz caught fire after Akari forced a fifth set with Brooke Van Sickle mounting a 7-2 start.
The Chargers cut it down to one after four straight points, but Myla Pablo restored the order with a kill and an ace before Djanel Cheng blocked Annie Mitchem for a 10-6 spread. Mitchem kept the Chargers afloat, trimming the deficit to one anew, 11-10, but Vander Weide put on the finishing touches to prevail in two hours and 33 minutes.
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Van Sickle delivered another all-around game with 19 points, 13 excellent receptions, and 12 digs. MJ Phillips had 13 points, including four blocks, while Pablo continued to thrive as an opposite hitter with 12 points.
‘We knew that Akari’s tough. We came out firing, kind of let up a little bit. But we just kept battling, And that fourth set, didn’t feel like it was happening, so we benched a couple of starters. They weren’t too happy, but felt that bring them back, have energy, and we needed it in the fifth,’ said Petro Gazz coach Gary Van Sickle.
Akari dropped to a 2-1 record in its third consecutive five-setter despite Mitchem’s 30-point effort. Fifi Sharma had 18 points, while Eli Soyud and Ced Domingo had 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Petro Gazz battles ZUS Coffee for its third straight win next week on Tuesday at the same venue at 4 p.m., as Akari seeks bounce back against the winless Galeries Tower at 1:30 p.m.