F2 Logistics and Chery Tiggo hacked out separate triumphs to match idle Creamline’s hot start and forge a three-way tie on top in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig on Saturday night, February 11.
The F2 Cargo Movers slipped past the Akari Chargers in the tight first two sets before pouring it out in the third to annex a 25-22, 25-23, 25-18 victory for a 2-0 start.
Earlier, Chery Tiggo grounded Army with a dominant run in the last two sets and came away with a 25-21, 23-25, 25-16, 25-12 triumph behind Mylene Paat’s awesome attacking prowess.
While the Cargo Movers pulled off a sweep, they went through some anxious moments, much like in their five-set escape of the PLDT High Speed Hitters last Tuesday.
But after surviving the first two sets, the Myla Pablo-reinforced F2 squad imposed its will in the third, storming to a 15-7 advantage that stretched to 19-10 en route to victory.
Kim Kianna Dy bagged the Player of the Game honors with 17 attacks and 4 excellent digs.
Pablo scored all but one of her 9 points on attacks while Ivy Lacsina (8 points) and Aby Maraño (6 points) had 3 blocks each for the Cargo Movers.
Akari did fight back by rattling off 6 straight points to pull to within 3, but the Cargo Movers recovered and finished off the Chargers on a 6-2 closing run behind Dy’s two through-the-block hits and Jessma Ramos’ back-to-back aces.
Dindin Santiago-Manabat fired 16 points to pace Akari, which absorbed its second straight defeat to remain in the cellar.
Meanwhile, Paat delivered 22 points for the Chery Tiggo Crossovers while likewise flashing her defensive skills by finishing with 4 blocks she laced with 12 excellent digs.
EJ Laure, kept out of rotation in that second-set defeat, came back strong in the third and delivered key hits on her way to a 12-point showing as she matched middle Cza Carandang’s output, while Ponggay Gaston debuted for the league’s first pro champions with 8 points.
Army lacked the firepower needed to measure up with the league’s top teams as it sorely missed the services of veteran hitter Jovelyn Gonzaga, who had opted to focus on her preparations for the SEA Games.
Honey Royse Tubino did post 16 points and Jeanette Villareal came up with 12 markers but the Lady Troopers failed to match the Crossovers’ fiery charge in the third and virtually crumbled in the face of another Chery Tiggo onslaught in the fourth.
