MANILA – Chery Tiggo Crossovers clawed back from a set down to stave off NxLed Chameleons, 23-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-20, in the PVL 1st All-Filipino Conference on Tuesday night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Mylene Paat led the way for the Crossovers with 15 points, while Ejiya “Eya” Laure added 12 points before being sidelined from the third set onwards after a challenging dive for the ball.
Ilonggas Princess Anne Robles and Abigail Marano also made their presence felt with 11 and nine points, respectively, as the Crossovers recorded their third consecutive victory to improve to a 5-2 win-loss slate.
“Nag-respond sila at happy kami kasi lumabas kahit papaano ‘yung mga ine-ensayo namin although hindi naman lahat nandoon,” said Crossovers head coach Emilio “Kung Fu” Reyes.
Ivy Lacsina finished with a conference-high 20-point output, Lycha Ebon scored 14 points, and Camille Victoria and Jho Maraguinot finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively, for Nxled, which slipped to 1-5.
Meanwhile, Diana Carlos capped off her career game with timely hits in the fifth set as Creamline Cool Smashers rallied past Cignal HD Spikers, 26-28, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21, 16-14.
With the HD Spikers close to dealing the Cool Smashers their second loss at 11-14 in the fifth set, Carlos stepped up with four consecutive connections to clinch the match point at 15-14.
The defending champions Cool Smashers then completed their reverse sweep over the HD Spikers with Jeanette Panaga blocking the attempt of Cignal’s Vanessa Gandler.
Carlos finished the match with a career-high of 38 points, built on 35 attacks and three blocks, as the Cool Smashers regained the solo first place in the standings with 6-1 win-loss slate.
“I think we focus more on what is happening in the present (during the third set), so ni-let go namin ‘yung mga nangyari nung first and second set, so we really tried our best to makabawi,” Carlos said./PN
