Never short on fuel, Chery Tiggo nears semifinal berth

Mylene Paat continues to breathe fire for Chery Tiggo.—PVL PHOTO

Chery Tiggo should have been vulnerable in the fourth set.

With an import focused more on defense, a top local gun battling cramps and its offense running through a gauntlet of errors, Chery should have been, well, ripe for the picking there.

Instead, down three midway through the fourth set, the Crossovers found loads of additional fuel to repulse Choco Mucho, 29-27, 18-25, 25-16, 25-20, on Tuesday in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference at PhilSports Arena.

“We had a good start, but in the middle of the match, we lost steam as Choco Mucho found its rhythm. But my team never lost its composure. They held on until the end. They really wanted to get this win,” said Chery Tiggo coach Clarence Esteban in Filipino after his team overcame 29 errors.

With its fourth win in as many games, Chery Tiggo now is within a win of booking a semifinal berth. And the Crossovers can clinch that win on Thursday, when they battle United Auctioneers Inc.-Army.

The pivotal moment for Chery came when the team was down, 13-16, in the fourth set.

Mylene Paat, who finished with 25 points but only had one point after suffering from cramps, looked to her teammates to finish the job.

“[Paat] told us to toughen up because a volleyball set doesn’t end at 16 [points]. She kept reminding us to claim it,” said Czarina Carandang, who along with EJ Laure stepped up for the Crossovers.

Carandang scored three of six straight Chery points for a 19-16 advantage before Laure stretched it to a four-point edge with back-to-back attacks, 22-18.

Paat still dominated on offense, finishing with 21 attacks, two blocks and two aces. Laure chipped in 15 points on 10 kills, three aces and two blocks, while import Jelena Cvijovic sustained her stellar defense with 21 excellent receptions and eight digs. Cvijovic also had 10 points while Carandang finished with nine.

Choco Mucho import Odina Aliyeva was the wind beneath the Flying Titans’ wings, piling up 21 points, 11 receptions and 10 digs, while Kat Tolentino added 15 points as their two-game win streak came to a halt.

Choco Mucho dropped to 2-2, with F2 Logistics catching the Flying Titans at fourth place after a 25-19, 25-22, 25-20 rout of a skidding PLDT side in the second game.

Lindsay Stalzer scored 19 points while Kianna Dy added 12 points for the Cargo Movers, who have won two straight now after dropping their first two assignments.

“I think we had a dose of humble pie after those first two games. So maybe it was good for us. It gave us kind of a wake-up call,” said the 38-year-old Stalzer. INQ