PVL: Mylene Paat fuels Chery Tiggo’s tough win over Nxled

Chery Tiggo Crossovers’ Mylene Paat. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Mylene Paat provided the spark from the bench and the much-needed leadership for Chery Tiggo to survive the gritty Nxled, 22-25, 31-29, 25-23, 28-26, for the joint second place in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) second All-Filipino Conference on Thursday at Philsports Arena.

After missing their first four games due to a foot injury, Paat showed flashes of her lethal form with 16 points including three blocks and encouraged her teammates to fight on amid losing Imee Hernandez midway through the second set due to a left knee injury from a bad fall.

“I shouted to play our hearts out in this fight. Through our hearts, we will win this game,” said Paat after helping the Crossover extend their winning streak to three.

Paat admitted she hasn’t fully recovered from her injury but the trust of her coaches and teammates helped her play through the pain.

“I’m thankful to the coaches and teammates. Even though I am still nursing an injury, they are not rushing me to come back but I also trust the process given to me,” she said.

Chery Tiggo Crossovers’ Eya Laure. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Eya Laure led the charge with 23 points including three blocks on top of 13 digs but she wasn’t pleased with her performance despite Chery Tiggo improving to 5-1, joining PLDT in second place before their clash on Saturday.

“I’m not happy with my performance because of my service error; But every time I get frustrated, coach Kungfu Reyes was there to calm me down. My teammates also reminded me to stay compose and keep playing because Nxled really challenged us with their serves,” Laure said in Filipino.

Cess Robles also scored with 16 points on top of nine excellent receptions. Pauline Gaston had 12 points including three straight points in the fourth to push the Crossovers at match point, 24-22, before they committed back-to-back errors that allowed the Chameleons to force a deuce and even reclaim the advantage, 26-25, after Lycha Ebon’s block on Robles.

Paat saved a point with an off-the-block kill before setter Jasmin Nabor sealed the win with a spike and the game-winning play to finish the game with seven points on top of 20 excellent sets.

Nxled could have swept Chery Tiggo in straight sets if the Chameleons were able to close out the second and third but they absorbed their fifth straight loss, sliding to 1-5.

“Credits to coach Taka [Minowa]’s team. They made it hard for us to score with the level they played. 

We were able to fight back from a cold start,” said Chery Tiggo deputy coach Kungfu Reyes.

Ebon led the Chameleons with 18 points and 10 digs. Cams Victoria and Jho Maraguinot had 15 points each, while Krich Macaslang had a game-high seven blocks to finish with 10 markers.

Post-game interview: Chery Tiggo Crossovers

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