By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Chery Tiggo caught the last semifinal bus after surviving the stiff challenge of Galeries Tower with a hard-fought 26-24, 23-25, 19-25, 25-12, 15-9 victory on Thursday, April 25, in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
The Crossovers bucked a slow start and endured the Highrisers’ solid floor defense before dictating the pace in the last two sets to advance to the next round and join early semifinalists Choco Mucho, Petro Gazz and Creamline.
They finished the preliminaries with a 9-2 mark.
Chery Tiggo actually needed only two set wins to secure the last semis berth, but only got it after claiming the fourth set to tie the match at 2-all.
Despite gaining the ticket in that frame, the Crossovers still went on to outplay the Highrisers, untangling themselves from a 5-all tie by claiming the next five points headed by Eya Laure for a 10-5 lead and never looked back.
Laure was instrumental throughout the match and finished with 20 points, including three straight kills in the opening frame that unlocked a 24-all tie to a set win.
The former University of Santo Tomas standout built on 15 attacks and five blocks.
Ara Galang also shone for the Crossovers with 13 points highlighted by 12 kills, while Aby Maraño and Cza Carandang chipped in seven points apiece.
Despite the loss, it was still an impressive performance for Galeries Tower as they challenged Chery Tiggo with its strong attacks spearheaded by France Ronquillo, Andrea Marzan and Norielle Ipac.
Ronquillo scored 15 points, while Marzan and Ipac added 11 and 10 points as the Highrisers finished their campaign with three wins against eight losses.
