BACARRA, ILOCOS NORTE — Chery Tiggo just sent a stern warning to the league.
This, as the Crossovers snapped Creamline’s 25-game winning streak in four hard-fought sets, 25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20, for their fourth win in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference at the PCV Socio-Civic and Cultural Center, Friday night.
The last time the Cool Smashers dropped a game was back on July 14, 2019, during the Game Three of the 2019 Reinforced Conference finals which Petro Gazz won.
Chery Tiggo upgraded their standing to 4-2 while also handing the Creamline their first loss after going unbeaten in five games.
“Well, definitely our team performed at their best today, Jaja [Santiago], Dindin [Santiago-Manabat], and Maika [Ortiz] were able to lead the team and that’s what we’re really hoping for,” said Chery Tiggo head coach Aaron Velez.
Looking to wrap things up, Chery Tiggo surged to a 17-11 advantage after the second technical timeout of the fourth set.
But Creamline showed one last fight, slicing the lead to just two through a 4-0 run spiked by Tots Carlos and Michelle Gumabao.
Carlos and Gumabao, however, committed a handful of errors that stretched Chery Tiggo’s lead to seven, 22-15, capped off by an ace from Shaya Adorador.
The UP product atoned for her mistakes, firing a personal 4-1 rally to keep the Cool Smashers at bay, 19-23. However, Carlos committed a service error which put Chery Tiggo at matchpoint.
The Crossovers committed an error before Alyssa Valdez misfired a spike — giving the Crossovers the win.
Santiago unloaded 20 points on 15 attacks, three aces, and two blocks to lead Chery Tiggo’s statement win following a five-set loss to Sta. Lucia.
Dindin Santiago-Manabat chipped in 15 points while Maika Ortiz and Shaya Adorador added 13 and 12, respectively.
The returning Mylene Paat — who spent two of their past games off the bench — had an all-around game with 11 points, 11 digs, and 10 receptions.
Leading the offense is Jasmine Nabor with 31 excellent sets and four sets while Buding Duremdes manned the floor with 19 digs and 11 receptions.
“As I said, we just have to go back to work. We still have a lot of rust that we have to clean up and then we have to stay connected and then remove all the negative thoughts or negative things that we have to get rid of,” he added.
The Crossovers came in the game with guns blazing, taking a 2-0 advantage before Creamline snatched the third set through 25-23 result to avoid the sweep.
Alyssa Valdez led Creamline with 16 points while Carlos and Gumabao — who kept the Cool Smashers in the game multiple times — finished with 12 and 10, respectively.
Chery Tiggo will next go up against Petro Gazz on Sunday at 1:00 PM while Creamline will have its chance to bounce back against Cignal on Monday at 6:00 PM.
