PVL: Mylene Paat paces Chery Tiggo in stretching Army’s losing skid

Mylene Paat shines anew for Chery Tiggo Crossovers. –PVL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Mylene Paat erupted for 26 points to keep Chery Tiggo unbeaten in two games after the Crossovers recovered from a second set loss before tearing Army-Black Mamba apart, 25-21, 23-25, 25-16, 25-12, in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference on Saturday at Philsports Arena.

Team captain Paat unleashed an all-around performance as she drilled 22 attacks and four blocks on top of 12 digs to give the Crossovers an early 2-0 league lead, joining the idle Creamline Cool Smashers on top of the standings.

EJ Laure and  Cza Carandang were also instrumental with 12 points each. New acquisition Pauline Gaston, benched in their straight-set win over Cignal last Tuesday, made an impressive debut as a Crossover, finishing with eight points and seven excellent receptions.

Chery Tiggo coach Aaron Velez charged their second win to experience after they stumbled in the second set.

“We have to take the experience. I think these experiences are the ingredients we need to become more consistent. I told them earlier that we have to really trust one another,” said Velez in Filipino.

“Earlier, they were playing as an individual but when they worked as a team, starting with the reception and then with the good playmakers of our setters, our spikers delivered.

Chery Tiggo fell short of a comeback in the second after it turned a 20-22 deficit into a 22-all tie from Paat and Carandang’s kills. But Army’s opposite spiker Jeanette Villareal stopped the bleeding followed by an attack error from Carandang to reach set point, 24-22, before Royse Tubino scored a spike off the block to tie the match to one set apiece.

The Crossovers were quick to get their actr together with Carandang and EJ Laure conspiring with Paat and Gaston providing a much-needed spark from the bench to dominate the last two sets, especially in the fourth set where they pulled away from a slim 11-9 lead and poured in an 11-1 run capped by Laure’s third ace to build a formidable 22-10 margin and never looked back.

Army, which ushered a new era under new coach Randy Fallorina, dropped its first game of the season in a losing streak that extended to 14 games dating back to the elimination round of the Invitational Conference last year.

Tubino led the Lady Troopers with 16 points off 14 attacks and two blocks to go with 15 excellent receptions as they gave up 28 errors in the match.

Villareal finished with 12 points in her first game as an opposite spiker, filling in the big shoes of Jovelyn Gonzaga, who skipped the tournament due to her stint in the Southeast Games beach volleyball but cheered for her team behind their bench.