Chery Tiggo Crossovers in Game 3. PVL MEDIA
MANILA, Philippines—Chery Tiggo came back from the brink of defeat and denied Creamline, 23-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-8, to claim the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference title Friday.
The Crossovers, who originally played for the Philippine Superliga, were down 1-0 in the series before winning two straight in just as many days to rule the PVL’s first professional season held entire in a bubble in Ilocos Norte.
Sisters Dindin Santiago-Manabat and Jaja Santiago were unstoppable for the Crossovers as they led their team with 32 and 26 points, respectively.
Their combined 52 kill spikes were just 12 fewer than the Cool Smashers’ total of 54.
“It’s special because we won, we got the championship, and we always believed that He was always watching over us,” said Santiago, who claimed conference and finals MVP and Best Middle Blocker, in Filipino.
After losing in a five-setter in the finals opener, Chery Tiggo took Game 2 25-18, 17-25, 25-16, 25-21 to even the best-of-three championship round.
Tots Carlos put up 22 points to lead the Cool Smashers while Best Outside Spiker Alyssa Valdez added 17 points.