By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Chery Tiggo routed Choco Mucho, 25-20, 25-9, 25-22, and claimed the No. 2 seed in the semis of the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference Saturday at the PVC Socio-Civic & Cultural Center in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte.
In a battle of semifinalists, the Crossovers outfoxed the Flying Titans to forge identical 7-2 slates at the end of their preliminary campaigns. But Chery Tiggo clinched the higher seeding after the tiebreak.
The Crossovers demolished the Flying Titans’ weak net defense with Mylene Paat and Jaja Santiago joining forces at the attack line.
Paat and Santiago finished with a combined 21 points.
In other games, Black Mamba Army turned back Cignal HD, 25-14, 17-25, 25-18, 25-19, to finish sixth with a 4-5 mark while BaliPure outhustled Perlas, 24-26, 25-19, 25-17, 26-24, for a 3-6 mark.
Jovielyn Gonzaga and Royse Tubino finished with 14 and 12 points for the Lady Troopers. The duo highlighted their performances with a combined 23 of the team’s 43 kills.
Chery Tiggo coach Aaron Velez said their victory would give them extra motivation in the semis which he believes is a different ballgame.
“They have already scouted us; we have already scouted them, so now I think it’s going to be a matter of conditioning,” he said.
Choco Mucho coach Oliver Almadro shuffled his players in the 75-minute contest, fielding in different lineup combinations each set.
Caitlyn Viray led the Flying Titans with 10 points after seeing action in two sets, while Kat Tolentino finished with six points all from her second-set stint. Bea De Leon managed four points after playing in the first set.