Crossovers wary of complacency

Games Tuesday
(PhilSports Arena)

4 p.m. – Army Black Mamba vs Akari
6:30 p.m. – PLDT vs Chery Tiggo

MANILA, Philippines – Fresh from dishing out its best game of the season thus far, Chery Tiggo coach Aaron Velez will not want to fall into the trap of playing too complacent for its own good.

So when the Crossovers tackle the PLDT High Speed Hitters in a Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference elimination-round game Tuesday at the PhilSports Arena, they would do everything to stay hungry and keep that fire burning.

“We would want to continue to work harder and improve every game because we don’t’ want to be too complacent and we know all the teams are really preparing hard against us,” said Chery Tiggo coach and manager Aaron Velez.

Velez’s and the Crossovers opened the year with three straight wins, including a masterful 25-19, 25-14, 25-16 demolition of the F2 Logistics Cargo Movers Thursday also at the Pasig venue.

But they only took the solo lead after the Creamline Cool Smashers, their erstwhile co-leaders, got too overconfident and sputtered in a heartbreaking 23-25, 25-18, 16-25, 25-23, 16-14 defeat to the Cargo Movers Saturday.

That sent Creamline spiralling down to No. 2 where it was joined by F2 on 3-1 cards while catapulting Chery Tiggo straight to the top.

Against PLDT, which improved to 1-1 after blitzing Army Black Mamba, 25-19, 25-12, 25-21, Thursday, Velez hopes they could replicate, if not do better, what they did last time.

Game time is 6:30 p.m.

“I just kept reminding them to continue to trust and believe in each other,” said Velez.

In that win over F2, Reinforced Conference MVP Mylene Paat did most of the heavy lifting with 22 points but she also drew solid support from the troika of Shaya Adorador, EJ Laure and Cza Carandang, who dropped 13, 12 and 10 hits, respectively.

Meanwhile, Army Black Mamba (0-2) and Akari (0-3) shoot for a first win as the two collide at 4 p.m.