Chery Tiggo outshone the offensive efforts of Savi Davison and PLDT with a 25-12, 25-23, 20-25, 25-22 victory on Tuesday, Dec. 3, in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Crossovers turn back High Speed Hitters; Cool Smashers down Flying Titans
At a glance
Chery Tiggo outshone the offensive efforts of Savi Davison and PLDT with a 25-12, 25-23, 20-25, 25-22 victory on Tuesday, Dec. 3, in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Ces Robles, Ara Galang and Shaya Adorador joined forces at the frontline for the Crossovers, who picked up their second straight win and improved to a 3-1 win-loss record to remain inside the Top 4.
Robles and Adorador unleashed their offensive might and conspired for 25 points to finish with 17 and 11 points, respectively, while Galang chipped in 13 points in turning back the High Speed Hitters after a little over two hours.
Veteran libero Jen Nierva, who took over the floor defense and wound up with 17 excellent digs, admitted to spending time studying PLDT to familiarize with their game.
“I think I started my day watching PLDT. I have six pages -- kung paano sila lalaro today -- and I think that’s something new I did today that really worked,” said Nierva.
“The intention is to read the opponent. Mas madaling gumalaw kung alam mo yung galaw ng kalaban,” she added.
Nierva’s plan actually worked as they survived Davison’s explosive 27-point production and PLDT’s rock-solid net defense, where the High Speed Hitters swatted away 12 blocks including five from Dell Palomata.
Chery Tiggo also took advantage of PLDT’s fumbling plays, translating its errors to 33 points.
Ponggay Gaston also stepped on the gas for the Crossovers with 10 points, while Alina Bicar converted 15 excellent sets.
PLDT, which also struggled at the service line after failing to make a single ace out of 83 attempts, absorbed its first loss after three straight wins despite Erika Santos scoring 13 points.
Meanwhile, Creamline bucked a close third-set stumble and turned back sister team Choco Mucho, 25-22, 25-20, 30-32, 25-20, to stay unbeaten in three games.
Jema Galanza and Michele Gumabao were unstoppable at the attack line, combining for 41 kills to finish with 24 and 22 points, respectively, to overshadow the efforts of Sisi Rondina for the Flying Titans.
Rondina managed 24 points built on 22 attacks and two blocks, but was not enough to lift the squad as Choco Mucho fell to 2-3.
The Cool Smashers banked on their offense anew by firing 70 kills, while also putting up a strong net defense with 12 blocks -- four coming from Pangs Panaga.