Santiago Sisters Dindin Santiago-Manabat and Jaja Santiago: Leading Chery Tiggo to the PVL’s biggest stage. PVL photo

Crossovers reach PVL finals vs Cool Smashers

August 10, 2021 Theodore P. Jurado 508 views

LOOKED lost early in the season after a couple of shock defeats, Chery Tiggo’s ability to go all way to the PVL’s biggest stage was put into question.

Proving doubters wrong, the Crossovers showed that they are very much capable to reach the Finals and grab the opportunity to topple the league’s first dynasty.

Chery Tiggo eliminated a tired but hard-fighting Choco Mucho side, 25-16, 26-24, 25-23, to forge an interesting Open Conference championship duel with Creamline yesterday at the PCV Socio-Civic & Cultural Center in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte.

No rest for the weary, as the Crossovers will be going up against the Cool Smashers for the country’s first professional volleyball title in the Finals opener at 5 p.m. today.

Animated throughout the one-hour, 34-minute match, coach Aaron Velez was thankful to steer Cherry Tiggo to a tough 2-1 semifinals series victory.

“First of all, thank you Lord for always gracing us with good health and strength every time. The players were so committed in our system, to each other. The trust is like a family for us so we know that we’re going to back up each other,” said Velez.

Summoning whatever enough strength after playing their fifth match in five days, the Flying Titans gave everything in the second and third sets only to fall short in the end.

“In volleyball it’s really bilog ang bola so like I said credit also to Choco Mucho for giving a good fight and they were able to push us to our full potential and hopefully we can sustain it,” said Velez.

Jaja Santiago led the Crossovers with 17 points, her elder sister Dindin Santiago-Manabat had two service aces to finish with 16 points to go with 10 digs, while setter Jasmine Nabor tossed in 28 excellent sets and fired three service aces.

It was Chery Tiggo which gave Creamline its lone loss in the bubble – a 25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20 win last July 30, as Velez wanted his troops to keep on playing their very best.

“We just have to be confident, count our blessing and at the same time fight for what we believe in,” said Velez.

The Flying Titans took the semis opener, 25-18, 25-22, 25-21, before the Crossovers leveled the series with a 25-18, 25-22, 26-24 sweep in Game 2.

Kat Tolentino had 12 kills and 10 digs, Maddie Madayag had three blocks for an 11-point effort, while Cait Viray contributed nine points in two sets for Choco Mucho.

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