Crossovers pummel Chameleons for play-in win

Games Tuesday

(PhilSports Arena)

4 p.m. - Farm Fresh vs Chery Tiggo

6:30 p.m. - ZUS vs Cignal

MANILA, Philippines — Chery Tiggo softened up Nxled in the first two sets before going for the kill in the third as it hammered out a 25-22, 26-24, 25-12 victory Thursday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig to move closer to the quarterfinals of the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference.

Denied of a quarters slot after a 25-22, 25-22, 25-23 loss to the Choco Mucho Flying Titans in the qualifications Saturday, the Crossovers made sure they won’t loosen their grip on that chance in carving the first win in the three-team Pool B.

The 2021 bubble champion will go for a group sweep against Farm Fresh at the same venue to snare one of the last two spots to the best-of-three quarterfinals, where they would battle a five-peat feat-seeking Creamline on March 16.

Ara Galang and Cess Robles paced Chery Tiggo with 15 points apiece while Shaya Adorador contributed 14 hits in a win where they all agreed it was a stark contrast from their last outing when they started out strong only falter in the end against Choco Mucho.

“Last game (Choco Mucho) became a challenge for us because we did well at the start of that game but we didn’t finish well,” said Adorador. “But in today’s game, we all saw we found a way to work on it.”

“We showed killer instinct in this game,” Robles, for her part, said.

Despite the defeat, there is still a glimmer of hope for the Chameleons, who tackle the Foxies next week, but it’s no longer in their hands now.