Chery Tiggo forces winner-take-all
Petro Gazz takes 3rd place against Choco Mucho
Chery Tiggo rose from a secondset stumble to outplay Creamline 25-18, 17-25, 25-16, 25-21 Thursday night and force a winnertake-all for the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference title at the PVC Socio-Civic & Cultural Center in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte.
Jaja Santiago powered the Crossovers anew with 25 points built on 20 attacks, three blocks and two aces to stay alive in their best-ofthree finals showdown.
Chery Tiggo came into the match determined to extend the series following a 25-15, 25-21, 18-25, 19-25, 15-7 Game 1 defeat Wednesday with Santiago teaming up with sister Dindin Santiago-Manabat in neutralizing Creamline’s attacks.
The Crossovers pulled away from a 15-all tie to a match point 24-20 after back-to-back kills from Manabat and Shaya Adorador
Alyssa Valdez briefly retaliated for Creamline with her down-the-line spike, but Manabat answered back with her own attack that sealed Chery Tiggo’s series-extending win.
Game 3 was ongoing at press time.
Meanwhile, the Petro Gazz Angels clinched the bronze medal in the 2021 PVL Open Conference after making quick work of the Choco Mucho Flying Titans 2520, 25-18, 25-21 in the battle for third place.
Myla Pablo led Petro Gazz with 14 kills for 16 points.
Choco Mucho had the chance to force a fourth set after unloading a mini 4-0 blitz helped by backto-back errors from Petro Gazz to trail 22-19.
After another quick exchange of points, Pablo hit a solid crosscourt kill to seal the deal for the Angels.
"Worth it lahat ng sakripisyo and yung mga paghihirap ng mga players or as a team doon sa bubble training namin going here," said Petro Gazz coach Arnold Laniog.
Tied at 10-10 in the third set, Petro Gazz uncorked a 7-0 run to pull away at 17-10 capped by an easy put from Seth Rodriguez before Choco Mucho rallied to cut the deficit by four, 22-19, but to no avail.