Chery Tiggo rolled to its second straight win for an early hold of the lead after taking down Cignal, 25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 25-20, in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City on Saturday.
Veteran Mylene Paat strung six points in the Crossovers' 10-2 scoring burst that created a sizeable separation in the fourth set before Montenegrin import Jelena Cvijovic delivered the finishing blows that lifted Chery Tiggo on top of the standings with a 2-0 win-loss record.
The Crossovers broke a 10-10 deadlock in the fourth frame with a telling run for a 20-12 lead. The HD Spikers fought back to bridge the gap with American import Tai Bierria pushing Cignal to 20-23.
Cvijovic, who had a quiet six points in Chery Tiggo's opening day win over F2 Logistics, smashed back-to-back kills to finally silence the HD Spikers.
"We're just happy with the development of the team. We came through a lot and right now we're reaping the rewards of our sacrifices to build this team," Crossovers coach Clarence Esteban said.
Paat scored all of her points on spikes in an efficient 19-of-44 attacking clip while middle Czarina Carandang energized the Crossovers' frontline offensive with quick attacks to finish with 14 points.
Cvijovic had 12 points including three kill blocks and added 17 excellent receptions for Chery Tiggo. EJ Laure added 11 markers.
The HD Spikers, who were plagued by 28 errors, slid to 1-1 slate tied with PLDT and Akari.
Bierria led Cignal with 19 points while Ces Molina and Glaudine Trongcoso scored 10 and nine markers, respectively, for Cignal, which played without middle Riri Meneses for the second straight game due to knee issues.
