Youthful California PS stun Petro Gazz in 5 sets

By John Bryan Ulanday

GAMES TODAY
(Aquamarine Recreational Center Gym, Lipa, Batangas)
1:30 p.m. – Petro Gazz vs Tuguegarao Perlas
4 p.m. –  Chery Tiggo vs F2 Logistics

LIPA CITY — Varsity squad California Precision Sports pulled off a monumental 18-25, 12-25, 25-22, 25-14, 15-13 upset win over pro team Petro Gazz to end its campaign with a bang and steal the spotlight in the penultimate day of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) Champions League at the Aquamarine Recreational Center Gym here.

Caisey Monique Dongallo and Jelaica Faye Gajero led the way with 22 points each as the young team from Antipolo rallied from two sets down to drop a gigantic upset ax on the Angels made up of seasoned professional players.

Ms. Gajero also scattered 19 digs while skipper Kizzie Madriaga provided 13 excellent sets and 13 digs for a balanced CPS attack under the tutelage of decorated mentor Jerry Yee.

“Every game is a championship game for us, that’s why we poured everything we had especially in our last match. There’s nothing to lose for us here and we have everything to gain. It’s a miracle that we pulled off the win,” said Ms. Madriaga.

Coming off a breakthrough win over Baguio the other day, CPS started flat and stared an early 0-2 deficit after dropping a lopsided 18-25 and 12-25 losses in the first two sets respectively.

The young team, with an average age of only 16 years, however gained a glimpse of hope in the third set by overcoming a 14-19 deficit to force another set.

There was no stopping CPS from there on, running away with a 25-14 fourth set victory before holding on to a 15-13 rubber set win for the biggest triumph in the Champions League so far.

With the win, CPS ended up at 2-3 after also standing their ground against other pro clubs F2 Logistics, Chery Tiggo and Tuguegarao Perlas.

Ces Molina was the only bright spot for Petro Gazz (2-2) with 22 markers.

Chery Tiggo (2-1) and Baguio (0-4) were still playing at press time.