Angels survive Cargo Movers in 3-hour battle

But a win is a win and Petro Gazz stretched its run to three matches after dropping its opening day game to Cignal while halting F2 Logistics’ own three-game streak as the Angels tied the Cargo Movers at 3-1 won-lost in Pool B play.

Th at should give the Angels the drive and confidence they need as they go for a semifinal berth against the Choco Mucho Flying Titans on Saturday.

C hoco Mucho dragged F2 Logistics into a long drawn, highly emotional battle of power, wits and nerves but blew a 14-11 lead in the fifth set, leading to the Cargo Movers’ victory late Tuesday.

Galdones block off Kim Dy.

The Angels tied at six off a positional error in a disputed point that took so long to resolve then after the Cargo Movers regained the lead at 9-8 on an Aby Maraño tip after two big saves from Dawn Catindig, Petro Gazz unleashed that blistering windup behind Grethcel Soltones.

Unlike in the fifth set of the F2-Choco Mucho duel that took 29 minutes to finish, Thursday’s decider lasted 44 minutes as the match took another long break after the Angels pulled away at 13-9 on an unsuccessful F2 challenge.

PETRO GAZZ battled from 0-4 down in the fifth set and endured a couple of momentum-halting lulls to carve out a 20-25, 25-22, 25-12, 33-35, 15-9 victory over F2 Logistics in a key Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference eliminations match at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City on Thursday.

C hery Tiggo finally got on track after a shutout loss to Creamline and a five-setter to Akari by driving past newcomer Gerflor, 25-19, 25-20, 25-18, earlier Thursday to enhance its semifinal bid.

W hile the Angels’ closing 7-0 run was decisive, that proved anticlimactic as the two teams engaged challenges after challenges instead in an attempt to gain the precious points and stall the other, leading to long breaks and in a way, confusion, particularly at endgame of a duel that took three hours and 13 minutes to finish.

F2 Logistics looked headed for a reprise of that feat as they rebounded from a blowout loss in the pivotal third set and survived five match points in an exhausting, rip-roaring four-set skirmish that also featured challenges with a big 4-0 start in the fifth frame.

But the Angels proved far from being finished.

W ith coach Oliver Almadro suing for time to break the run and inserting Chie Saet into the fray, the veteran playmaker didn’t disappoint, setting up their hitters with fast or under-hand feeds, leading to a 5-2 counter-attack, capped by Kecelyn