Chery Tiggo took a challenging path to secure its spot in the semifinals of the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference, overcoming the spirited resistance of Galeries Tower with a hard-fought 26-24, 23-25, 19-25, 25-12, 15-9 victory at the Philsports Arena in Pasig Thursday.
Despite facing setbacks and trailing 1-2 in sets, the Crossovers fought back in the fourth set, dominating convincingly to seal their advancement and extinguish any hopes of a backdoor entry for the PLDT High Speed Hitters.
The resounding victory in the fourth set guaranteed Chery Tiggo at least one point, ensuring its qualification for the post-elims phase of the season-opening conference of the league organized by Sports Vision.
With the win, 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, lasting two hours and 34 minutes, allowed Chery Tiggo to level the Choco Mucho at the top with Petro Gazz and Creamline completing the semis cast.
Despite PLDT’s aspiration for a Galeries Tower victory in four sets, the High Speed Hitters required a sweep against the Creamline Cool Smashers later in the evening to snatch the fourth and last spot in the semis.
“We are very thankful to our coaches who never stopped telling us what we lacked, and to my teammates who adjusted,” said playmaker Alina Bicar, who dished out 16 excellent sets and four points to claim the game’s top honors.
The Crossovers did come 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 absolutely had to win to advance.
It was actually Chery Tiggo’s seventh straight victory that included stirring over the league’s top teams, giving the Crossovers the needed confidence and momentum heading into the demanding semifinals next week.
