Chery ‘oysters’ book semifinal berth with tense win over F2
Should Chery Tiggo change its moniker now?
Crossovers coach Kungfu Reyes called his team ‘oysters’ on Saturday after sticking to its resolve against a hard-fighting F2 Logistics in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at PhilSports Arena.
“That’s the character we’re trying to build,” Reyes said. “It’s here now, that never-say-die attitude.”
“We’re like oysters. We’re dead, but we still stick it out.”
Chery hammered out a 27-25, 11-25, 17-25, 25-22, 15-10 victory, coming from behind against an eliminated Cargo Movers to string up a sixth straight victory and clinch the third semifinal spot of the tournament with its eighth win in nine games.
Sister squads Creamline, which remains unbeaten, and Choco Mucho were the first two teams to tab tickets to the next round.
It was quite the grind for the Crossovers against a team that had a lot of fight in it despite practically having nothing to fight for.
“We got the first set because we worked for it,” Reyes said. “In the second and third set, we didn’t lose focus, we just moved irritatingly. We didn’t know where to scratch, is it on the left [or is it on the] right? I even scratched my head. That wasn’t us,” he added in jest.
Held to just 11 points in the second frame, the Crossovers still could not recover and fell a set down after three.
Benefits
Luckily, Chery Tiggo had Eya Laure.
With the score tied at 20 in the fourth set, the former University of Santo Tomas star scored her team’s next five points to force a deciding fifth frame. Laure said having her college coach as her coach in the pros has its benefits.
“There was one set where I looked at coach Kungfu. I didn’t tell him anything but I looked at him like I felt that I wasn’t contributing because even my services had errors,” said Laure in Filipino.
“But I saw hope when I saw that face,” she added, laughing along with Reyes.
“I always say that without my coach beside me who was with me from scratch, I wouldn’t have my achievements in life … Whoever I am now, how I was molded, I’m happy because, in these new milestones, I’m still with him,” the former queen Tigress said.
The Crossovers refused to be denied in the fifth set as they scored yet another rallying victory. Previously, Chery Tiggo also scored a dramatic five-set comeback win against Cignal.
Mylene Paat delivered 21 points to lead the Crossovers in scoring while Jen Nierva anchored her team’s defense with 27 excellent digs. INQ
