Chery Tiggo dispatched F2 Logistics with surprising ease, 25-19, 25-14, 25-16, to re-join Creamline at the helm in the Premier Volleyball League All Filipino Conference Thursday, Feb. 16, at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
The Crossovers dominated the Cargo Movers in the first two frames then turned what had started to be a tight third set into a runaway win behind Mylene Paat, Shaya Adorador and EJ Laure’s attacks, Cza Carandang’s control of the middle and the rest of the team’s floor defense that stymied their rivals’ assaults and set up a number of counter-attacks.
Standing as anchor of the team’s one-hour, 29-minute romp was Buding Duremdes, who upstaged Dawn Macadili in a duel of two of the league’s leading liberos, putting up a 13-excellent reception and 25-excellent dig performance for the Crossovers.
Chery Tiggo’s awesome firepower was also in full display with four churning out double-digit outputs, underscoring the team’s balanced offensive sock that keyed their lopsided victories over the Cignal HD Spikers and the Army Lady Troopers in the early going of the league’s season-opening tournament organized by Sports Vision.
So outclassed were the Cargo Movers that Myla Pablo’s nine-point effort proved to be the best for the team that subdued the PLDT High Speed Hitters and the trounced the Akari Chargers recently.
Paat, doing what she does best, scored on a variety of hits and finished with 22 points, including 20 on attacks, as she mocked F2 Logistics’ net defense. Adorador likewise stepped up to fire 13 points while Laure and Carandang backed them up with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
“We just did what our coaches have been telling us,” said Duremdes, who took the game’s top honors with her stellar play.
“I’m so proud (of the ladies) and how they worked hard,” said Chery Tiggo coach Aaron Velez, out to steer the team to a strong finish after ending up second-to-last here last year. “Wala kang mapi-pinpoint. Yung puso na binigay nila ngayon, talagang inialay nila sa isa’t-isa.”
“We know F2 is not an easy opponent, kaya talagang overwhelming ito (win),” he added.
Attack the Crossovers did all throughout as they converted 54 of their 143 attempts. But while the Cargo Movers also came up with 142 attempts in spikes, they only earned 22 points as the former’s floor defense held all game.
The Cargo Movers forced a 7-all count in the third but the Crossovers unleashed another telling run that the former had failed to counter, enabling the latter to roll to the trouble-free win.
“Sobrang thankful ako kasi yung hard work na ginagawa naming, nasusuklian,” said Paat. “Of course, ang gandang tignan at masarap sa pakiramdam nung nasa loob ako kanina, tulong-tulong lahat – from the bench to the coaching staff to the players.”
Macandili wound up with 13 excellent digs out of 33 attempts while Aby Marano and Majoy Baron struggled for six points apiece and Elaine Kasilag and Ara Galang finished with three hits each.
Pablo, who starred in F2’s first two wins, also failed to get her rhythm, scoring just nine out of 44 tries, while Galang made 24 attempts and scored just three points as the Cargo Movers slipped to 2-1 heading to their match with the Cool Smashers.
