Bell rings 39 as Chery Tiggo downs PLDT

American import Khat Bell poured 39 points to tow Chery Tiggo back in the win column after downing erstwhile unbeaten PLDT, 25-19, 20-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-10, in Pool A of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference Saturday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Bell smashed 33 kills with five kill blocks and a service ace while adding 11 excellent receptions in an all-around performance for the Crossovers, who tied the High Speed Hitters and Creamline at the top with identical 3-1 win-loss records.

“I mean, 39 points is alright but I had a lot of errors tonight which I wish I wouldn’t have had. But obviously the goal is to get three points tonight and I’ll take two. But 39 points is cool but I really don’t like the errors honestly much I think I probably had 10 but I feel good. I’m glad we got the win tonight and that’s the positive,” Bell said.

Chery Tiggo, who came off a four-set loss at the hands of the Cool Smashers, had to gut it out in the fifth set before Bell and Ara Galang took over in the closing stretch of the two-hour, 26-minute encounter.

Galang, who battled through cramps in the fifth frame, finished with 23 markers with 19 coming off kills while Pauline Gaston chipped in seven for the Crossovers.

PLDT recovered from a 1-2 deficit behind Russian Elena Samoilenko, Erika Santos and Fiola Ceballos to force a decider.

The High Speed Hitters kept the fifth frame close early in the deciding frame before Chery Tiggo opened a four-point lead that kept PLDT at bay.

Samoilenko scored 24 points with all but one coming off spikes, Santos had 20 while Ceballos added 16 points, 24 excellent receptions and 14 digs for the High Speed Hitters.