Chery Tiggo routed Choco Mucho, 25-20, 25-9, 25-22, to claim the No. 2 semifinal seeding in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference 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.
The duo also teamed up to provide a tough defensive wall at the net with four of the team’s six blocks.
Chery Tiggo coach Aaron Velez sees the victory as a springboard to their semis campaign, 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 lineup 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.