Pasig City, Philippines, April 25, 2025 – BAIC Motor Volleyball Club (CHN) outlasted Petro Gazz Angels (PHI) in a thrilling tie-break, 3-2 (31-29, 19-25, 20-25, 25-20,15-12) to punch their slot in the semifinals of the 1st AVC Women’s Volleyball Champions League.
Friday evening’s quarterfinal encounter at the PhilSports Arena set off to a thrilling start with each team fully to their known strength. BAIC Motor sent their tall frontline to launch powerful attacks, matched with a solid block formation.
Petro Gazz Angels knew they could only match this with their own share of strengths, by serving strategically, and defending well. They managed to prolong rallies and recycle their plays, with Giovanna Day and Brooke Van Sickle ever ready to counter. As the first set went on extended play, the home team lost to attack miscues.
BAIC Motor’s Jin Ye proved to be the Chinese club’s main option in offense. Plays would always go toward her favor, and she looked prolific in her mission. When the opponents would line up to block against her, she would devise ways to work around with her angles and speed.
The home team worked hard in both first and second lines of defense and yet, they conserved enough energy to set up their counterattack. They continued to serve well enough to slow down the opponents’ passing unit, and in some occasions, force upon errors. The effort paid off for a convincing win in the second set.
Jonah Sabete added a remarkable presence in the Petro Gazz Angels’ lineup. She played the passing lanes well and also scored several attacks from the flank, daring to outsmart the tall defenders. Mary Joy Dacoron and Mar Jana Phillips also posted well at the middle, and surprisingly pulling off some digs.
The fourth set continued to be a showdown of each team’s main hitters: Jin Ye for BAIC Motor and Giovanna Day for Petro Gazz Angels. With such, they have become marked and guarded against each time.
Such was the case for the Philippine club, who have suffered from their opponents’ tight block formation. They also looked a bit tired in defense, having played long rallies in the match so far.
The Chinese side revved their engine as Lu Yufei and Shen Hongyi became more prolific in attack, to help force a decider.
By the fifth set, the home side looked to have run out of gas, showing flaws where they have earlier succeeded. They started misfiring both attack and serve, and lagged in quality and agility of defense.
The China club zoomed past their opponents with a huge advantage to seal a tie-break victory for a place in the semifinals.
BAIC Motor Volleyball Club will face Vietnam’s VTV Binh Dien Long An in the semifinals scheduled on Saturday at 19:00 Philippine time.
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