Almadro's Angels come up big.
When the Petro Gazz Angels took on the Choco Mucho Flying Titans Thursday night at the PhilSports Arena, all eyes inevitably turned to Oliver Almadro.
Coach O, as PVL fans know by now, has some history with the Flying Titans. He steered Choco Mucho in previous years before abruptly calling it quits last conference—only to resurface as the head tactician of the Angels.
All the right things were said in the wake of the Coach O-Choco Mucho break up, but the truth is it may have rubbed some people off the wrong way. After all, Almadro did say he was leaving the Flying Titans to focus on his coaching duties at Ateneo. Yet here he is, the concurrent coach of the Blue Eagles in the UAAP and the Angels in the PVL.
So, yes, all eyes were most definitely on Almadro.
Fortunately for Coach O, his Angels had his back, turning in a swashbuckling performance to beat the Flying Titans in straight sets, 25-18, 25-20, 25-21, to barge into the win column after their opening loss to the Creamline Cool Smashers.
Leading the way was the ageless Aiza Maizo-Pontillas, who scored a game-high 19 points in her second double-digit outing in as many games. The 34-year-old had plenty of help this time around, with Grethcel Soltones and Jonah Sabete contributing 11 and 9 points, respectively, to give Almadro his first victory as Petro Gazz coach—and at the expense of his former team at that.
And it appears that was actually part of the Angels’ motivation coming into the game. The first, according to Sabete, was to preserve their immaculate record against the Flying Titans. And, of course, they wanted to win this one for Coach O, who had previously admitted he was looking forward to this game.
“Ayaw namin natatalo talaga,” Sabete emphasized post-game. “And dinedicate din namin talaga ‘tong game na ‘to kay coach [Almadro].
With this early grudge match out of the way, all eyes will finally be on Almadro’s Angels—unless, of course, Petro Gazz and Choco Mucho meet in the playoffs.