Chery Tiggo’s Nierva glad to have finally solved Creamline puzzle

MANILA, Philippines – It’s been a long time coming for the Chery Tiggo Crossovers, but the breakthrough finally came against the Creamline Cool Smashers on Saturday, as they snapped the latter’s 19-game win streak in their PVL All-Filipino Conference encounter at the Santa Rosa Multipurpose Complex.

In Creamline’s first three-set loss since the 2019 PVL Reinforced Conference, the Crossovers had a response to everything the Cool Smashers threw at them. For Player of the Game Jen Nierva, it was a full circle moment.

During the finals last conference, where the Cool Smashers drubbed sister Choco Mucho Flying Titans in two games, Nierva was stuck wondering how they could beat a team like Creamline. And now, a couple of months later, they’ve done it.

“Nanood kami ng entire game, tapos sobrang amazed talaga ako sa Creamline. Then napatanong ako tapos sabi ko, 'Paano namin matatalo yung Creamline?' kasi system-wise ang solid ng sistema nila, attackers, defense, passing. Even kapag nagsa-scout kami sa kanila, hindi ko makita kung paano namin sila bubutasan eh,” Nierva said after the game.

“So I’m just so happy na dumating kami sa point na nagkaroon kami ng jelling inside the court. Siguro, yung familiarity, tapos with the help of our coaches, yung system na binago nila since yung loss namin sa Farm Fresh, talagang ramdam ko talaga si Coach Kungfu [Reyes], lahat ng coaches, Coach Brian [Esquivel], Coach Yani [Fernandez], nag-iisip talaga sila ano pwedeng mangyari kasi hindi to pwede mangyari ulit. Hangga’t meron tayong kakalabanin, meron tayong chance manalo,” she added.

Nothing could’ve foretold how the Crossovers would play against Creamline, especially after suffering a tough straight-sets loss to the Farm Fresh Foxies in their last game heading into the Santa Rosa game.

But for Nierva, the team was able to regain their bearings just in time for a bounce back win like no other with some team bonding on and off the court.

“Nag-start sa coaches, nakita ko rin sa mga players. Si Tyang Aby, naggawa siya ng way paano kami magsama-sama. We had two days ng team bonding, and I think that really helped the team to win this game,” she said.

The Crossovers, now at 3-2 in the standings, hope to bring the momentum of their big win against the Petro Gazz Angels on Thursday, March 21, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.