Chery Tiggo bounced back in spectacular fashion after an “embarrassing” loss to PLDT, stunning Creamline in five sets during the 2025 PVL Invitationals on Saturday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
It was Crossovers head coach Norman Miguel himself who called their 16-25, 14-25, 20-25 defeat to the High Speed Hitters in the tournament opener “embarrassing,” leaving the team with no choice but to redeem themselves.
Redemption came in dramatic fashion as Chery Tiggo survived a nail-biting battle against the 10-time champions Creamline, winning 25-20, 24-26, 21-25, 25-17, 17-15 after two hours and 39 minutes.
“Big win ito kasi talagang big loss naman kami nung isang araw. So talagang wala kaming choice kundi i-redeem namin yung sarili namin. Yun naman talaga yung napag-usapan namin, na like yesterday, sana pag aapak kami sa court, ngayon maglalaro kami ng may pride,” said Miguel postgame.
“Hindi naman yung — sorry sa term ha — yung nakakahiyang game. Kasi para sa amin talaga, nakakahiya talaga yung nangyari nung game na yun nung Thursday,” he added.
“I think we were humbled also nung game na yun, ngayon nakabawi kami although talagang mahirap talagang… I commend naman talaga yung performance ng Creamline. From the start naman, Creamline is Creamline diba? Kahit anong gawin mo diyan, the name itself, talagang matatakot ka na talaga.”
(C) PVL Images
While this victory is a major confidence booster for the 2025 PVL On Tour silver medalists, Miguel cautioned that such wins cannot become the norm.
It should not always take a poor performance to spark a comeback, as that would imply they had to lose first.
“Kaya ko naman nasabing inconsistent — oh look, naglaro kami ng Finals, tapos bad game na sobrang bad game naman nung ano, yun pa yung kailangan namin solusyonan pa,” said Miguel.
“Ang nangyayari kasi, coming from a bad game, babawi ng panalo after that. Mas maganda siyempre yung consistent ka talaga diba? Yun yung talagang gusto namin mangyari para sa kanila.”
The Crossovers are now 2-1 in the standings and will aim to start a win streak when they face the ZUS Coffee Thunderbelles on Tuesday at the same Pasig venue.
