Chery Tiggo fended off Galeries Tower in a tight third set to complete a 25-14, 25-15, 25-21 sweep in the Premier Volleyball League Second All-Filipino Conference, Thursday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.
Carrying the momentum from their straight-set win over Farm Fresh, the Crossovers took the first two sets with ease but had to fight off the Dimdim Pacres-led Highrisers in the third frame to take the temporary lead in the standings with a 2-0 win-loss record.
“From last conference, bilog talaga ang bola. We cannot be complacent kaya nga everytime sa amin, bawat isa sa amin including coaches, we have to remain disciplined kasi at the blink of an eye pwedeng magbago,” said Chery Tiggo head coach Aaron Velez.
“Kaya yung momentum na napapanalo namin dapat dumoble pa yung aral namin inside and outside the court yung discipline dapat on point parati,” he added.
Pacres injected life to a lethargic Galleries side in the third set and did not let the Crossovers pull away by scoring back-to-back hits that pulled them closer to just one, 19-18, after trailing by as much as five points midway into the frame.
Both sides exchanged points from there before Pacres once again came to Galeries Tower’s defense and converted a tip that put them to within one once more, 21-20.
Jaycel Delos Reyes answered back by hammering down a misreceive before Ces Robles blocked Pacres, and then scored a cross-court hit, to push Chery Tiggo at match point.
Raprap Aguilar saved one for the Highrisers before Robles sealed the deal off a combination play.
“We were able to stay to the plan alam naman na pinag-usapan namin to we’re not going to look at it na parang resulta. Yung ano namin dito we really need to build our chemistry and as planned kung sino ipapasok kailangan makasabay sila sa pace ng mga nagli-lead sa mga court. I think we’re on point,” said Velez.
Team captain EJ Laure delivered a game-high 15 points for the Crossovers to go along with nine excellent digs and four excellent receptions while her younger sister, Eya, backstopped her with 12 points on nine attacks, two kill blocks, and an ace.
Jasmine Nabor tossed 14 excellent sets to go along with seven points off three blocks, two attacks, and two aces.
Chery Tiggo dominated Galeries Tower above the net, registering 11 blocks compared to the latter’s one while also limiting them to just 27 attacks in the one hour and 17-minute match.
The Crossovers will next face Akari (1-0) on Tuesday, 6:00 p.m. at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
On the other hand, Pacres was the lone bright spot for the Highrisers, who slid to 0-2 in the standings, with 11 points.
Meanwhile, Galeries Tower will try to break through the win column on October 28, Saturday, 4:00 p.m. in Candon, Ilocos Norte versus F2 Logistics (0-1).
