Chery Tiggo caught the last bus heading for the semifinals following a nail-biting 26-24, 23-25, 19-25, 25-12, 15-9 win over Galeries Tower in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference yesterday at the Philsports Arena.
Eya Laure took charge of the offense while Ara Galang, Mylene Paat, Cess Robles, Cza Carandang and veteran Aby Maraño all chipped in significant numbers for the Crossovers, who joined Choco Mucho, Petro Gazz and Creamline in the next round.
Laure, the heart and soul of the Crossovers’ offense, delivered 20 points while Galang backed her up with 13 markers, Paat fired nine points and Robles, Carandang and Maraño each scored seven points to underscore their balanced scoring.
The Crossovers accumulated a total of two points, bringing their total tally to 25 points in the standings with a 9-2 record.
The hard-earned triumph that lasted for two hours and 34 minutes also knocked PLDT out of contention as it was praying for a Galeries Tower win in four sets and a sweep of Creamline later in the evening to snatch the fourth and last semifinal spot.
Chery Tiggo playmaker Alina Bicar said they simply refused to give up as they fought hard in the fourth set despite facing a 1-2 set deficit to seal the victory.
“We are very thankful to our coaches who never stopped telling us what we lacked, and to my teammates who adjusted,” said Bicar, who dished out 16 excellent sets and four points to claim the game’s top honors.
Chery Tiggo coach Kungfu Reyes heaved a huge a sigh of relief, saying that they could have lost the match if they didn’t make the necessary adjustments in the fourth set.
"You'll just say 'Thank you, Lord' after the game. Because it's everybody's game, and we're the ones who chased them," Reyes said.
"At least, in the end, our adjustments went right."
True enough, the Crossovers marched into the fourth frame with fiery determination, unleashing a barrage of powerful hits and effectively thwarting their opponents’ attacks with strong blocking, asserting their dominance in the set they had to win to advance.
‘You’ll just say ‘Thank you, Lord.’
It was actually Chery Tiggo’s seventh straight victory that included stirring win ver the league’s top teams, giving it the needed confidence and momentum heading into the demanding semifinals next week.
All four teams will start from scratch and will play a single-round semis with the top two teams to dispute the hotly-contested championship.
Although the Highrisers ended with a 3-8 record, they walked away with their heads held high, proud of their performance. They hope to carry the momentum forward and build on it when they resume their campaign in the next conference.
France Ronquillo, Andrea Marzan and Norielle Ipac led Galeries Tower's charge with 15, 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Shola Alvarez, RJ Doromal and Audrey Paran combined for 21 points.