MANILA, Philippines – A controversial play during the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) semifinal match between Petro Gazz and Creamline “could have been easily remedied.”
That’s what Petro Gazz asserted a day after their tight four-set loss to Creamline, 27-25, 23-25, 27-25, 26-24, in the 2024 PVL All-Filipino Conference round-robin semifinals on Thursday, May 2.
As clips of the controversial incident made the rounds on social media, Petro Gazz said in a statement that it disagrees with some of the decisions called by first referee Bobby Celso late in the third set where the Angels stood at the brink of taking a 2-1 set lead.
“Much of the reaction by netizens on social media was due to what some perceive as controversial calls or non-calls at the end of third set, with the most significant moment being the spike of Alyssa Valdez over the block of Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and MJ Phillips,” the statement released on Friday, May 3, said.
“While the First Referee initially called the spike out and signaled a point for Petro Gazz, he would reverse his call and give the point to Creamline due to the Linesman indicating that a touch on the ball was made by one of the Angels,” it added.
The Angels said Celso should have insisted on his first call, which could have been challenged by Creamline.
Instead, Petro Gazz was not able to challenge the call as it had none left, leaving the team to just argue with the call verbally.
Moreover, the Angels lamented that Celso could have convened with the linesman or called a referee’s challenge himself to clarify a crucial call.
The team also called on the league to address the officiating errors.
“We congratulate the Creamline Cool Smashers; it was a hard-fought game and they prevailed. We sincerely hope that the officiating lapses can be addressed to preserve the integrity of the PVL,” the Angels management said.
“Finally, we put this game behind us. We have played many PVL games, and we will play many more, against Creamline and all the other PVL teams. That, we can look forward to.”
The two teams look to win their respective matchups on Sunday, May 5, as Creamline faces Chery Tiggo, while Petro Gazz tackles undefeated Choco Mucho at the Araneta Coliseum.
Squads with the two best records at the end of the single round-robin Final Four will advance to the best-of-three championship series, while the bottom two will be relegated to the bronze-medal contest.
Rappler sought the side of PVL commissioner Sherwin Malonzo, but he has yet to respond as of posting time. – Rappler.com