PVL: Mylene Paat tows Chery Tiggo past Cignal for 2-0 start

Mylene Paat leads Chery Tiggo to another win in PVL Reinforced Conference. –PVL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Mylene Paat led Chery Tiggo’s balanced attack to shut down Cignal, 25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 25-20, and seize the early 2-0 lead in the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference on Saturday at Philsports Arena.

Paat, a Philippine women’s volleyball team mainstay, sustained her fine play as she unloaded 19 points, all coming from her 44 attack attempts, to also deal the HD Spikers’ first loss after a two-hour battle.

When Cignal and Chery Tiggo were tied at 10-all in the fourth set, Paat poured six straight points of their 10-2 run to build a 20-12 advantage. However, the Crossovers lost steam as EJ Laure’s back-to-back errors committed that capped the HD Spikers’ run to cut down the lead to five, 21-16.

Dindin Santiago-Manabat and Czarina Carandang stopped the bleeding, pushing Chery Tiggo two points away from the win, 23-16. But Rachel Anne Daquis delivered two consecutive attacks, followed by Carandang’s attack error, before Cignal import Tai Bierria trimmed the deficit to three, 23-20.

Montenegrin import Jelena Cvijovic, who was held to six points in their first win over F2 Logistics last week, delivered the back-to-back match-clinching spikes to end the match, where she finished with 12 points, including two blocks, to go with 17 excellent receptions.

Chery Tiggo Crossovers in the PVL Reinforced Conference. –PVL PHOTO

Carandang also stepped up with 14 points built on 12 attacks, one block, and an ace, while EJ Laure had 11 points and 10 digs as Chery Tiggo seized the league lead with two consecutive wins in its bid to rise from a back-to-back eighth place finishes in the first two conferences.

“We’re happy with what’s happening in our team. We went through a lot, but our hard work and sacrifices to build this team have been paying off so far,” said coach Clarence Esteban in Filipino. “I just reminded them to stay composed in the fourth set during my timeout. They were a bit rattled so I asked them to relax their minds and bodies. I’m glad it worked.”

Chery Tiggo eyes its third straight win against Akari on Thursday at the same venue in Pasig City.

American import Bierria powered Cignal with 19 points as her team slid to 1-1, tied with PLDT and Akari.

Ces Molina had 10 points, eight receptions, and seven digs, while Rose Doria nailed four blocks to finish with seven markers as they missed middle blocker Ria Meneses, who was in street clothes still recovering from a knee injury.

The HD Spikers will have a week to regroup as they battle the Creamline Cool Smashers (1-0) on Saturday next week in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.