MANILA – Chery Tiggo Crossovers booked a slot in the finals round of the 2021 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Open Conference after a 25-16, 26-24, 25-23 triumph over Choco Mucho Flying Titans in the do-or-die Game 3 of semifinals on Tuesday at the PCV Socio-Civic Cultural Center in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte.
Jasmine Nabor was hailed Player of the Game after dropping 28 excellent sets on top of three service aces as the Crossovers barged to the best-of-three finals against Creamline Cool Smashers starting tonight.
“Talagang pinaghandaan namin ito dahil hindi kami papayag na third or fourth place lang kami after lahat ng pinagdaanan namin sa PVL bubble,” Nabor said. “Ang goal talaga namin is to win the championship.”
The Crossovers were a picture of determination in the opening set as they zoomed to a 20-14 lead on attacks by Dindin Santiago-Manabat and Jaja Santiago. Mylene Paat and Maika Ortiz then unloaded quick attacks to close the set for Chery Tiggo.
Down 24-22, the Crossovers struggled in the second canto but dominated after scoring 26-24 on two Flying Titans errors and back-to-back hits from Santiago-Manabat and Santiago.
In the third set, Chery Tiggo surged to 15-11, but Choco Mucho staged an uprising to record a 20-18 edge. The Crossovers countered the attacks with five straight points from Nabor and Santiago-Manabat and posted a 23-21 advantage.
However, the Crossovers committed two straight errors for a 23-all count. Paat then executed a powerful kill followed by a touching error from the Flying Titans to seal the victory for Chery Tiggo.
Meanwhile, the Cool Smashers made it to its fifth consecutive PVL finals stint after sweeping Petro Gazz Angels, 27-25, 25-22, 25-16, in Game 2 of their best-of-three semifinals on Monday night.
The finals seat-clinching win for the Cool Smashers, however, was not easy as they survived the Angels in the extended opening frame and were dragged into a tight battle by their opponent in the second set.
In the third set, the Cool Smashers were clinging to a slim 9-7 lead before they went for the kill behind Diana Carlos and Jessica Galanza as they build 16-9, 18-11, and 23-14 leads the rest of the way.
Carlos spearheaded the Cool Smashers’ offense with 21 points, while Galanza and Jeanette Panaga fired 12 and 10 points, respectively, to cover up for star player Alyssa Valdez, who had nine points./PN