Chery Tiggo fortified its frontline by tapping the services of champion middle blocker Risa Sato heading into the resumption of the 2024-2025 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference.

The Crossovers announced the signing of the 30-year-old Filipino-Japanese on Wednesday just two days before the recruitment window closes.

Sato is expected to suit up for the 2021 Open Conference champion club when it takes on Petro Gazz on 21 January at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City to open the new year.

Chery Tiggo made a recruitment coup in getting the services of Sato, who has won 11 PVL titles including 10 with her former squad Creamline.

Sato was released by the Cool Smashers last 8 November after a six-year stint with the league’s winningest franchise. The club agreed to an early termination of her contract that was supposed to expire by the end of December 2024.

She was not included in Creamline’s official roster for the season-opening conference, thus making her eligible to join other clubs for the ongoing tournament.

The 5-foot-9 sparkplug will not only bring added firepower and energy to the Crossovers but also provide valuable championship experience to a club that has not reached the finals since upsetting the Cool Smashers in the Ilocos bubble four years ago in the PVL’s inaugural year as a professional league.

Sato’s arrival bolsters the already formidable middle rotation of Chery Tiggo led by Aby Maraño, Pauline Gaston, Czarina Carandang and Seth Rodriguez.

The Crossovers expect the National University product and former national team player to play a huge role in their drive to improve their current 4-2 win-loss record.

The PVL will resume action on Saturday at the Philsports Arena featuring a triple-header between Farm Fresh and Nxled at 1:30 p.m. followed by the ZUS Coffee and Choco Mucho clash at 4 p.m. PLDT and Akari battle in the night cap at 6:30 p.m.