Chery Tiggo claims 2021 PVL Open title with thrilling five-set win over Creamline

Fiery Chery Tiggo claimed the 2021 PVL Open Conference title with a thrilling 23-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-8 win over Creamline in winner-take-all Game 3 finals Friday at PCV Socio-Civic and Cultural Center in Ilocos Norte.

The Crossovers will now be the first-ever titleholder in the professional ranks.

It was a blazing start for Creamline, opening the first set with 17 attack points and only six errors as the wards of head coach Tai Bundit limited the Crossovers to only 14 attacks.

A similar narrative went underway in the second frame as this time, Creamline fired 17 attacks as well while Chery Tiggo had only nine. A quick kill by middle blocker Risa Sato, 25-23, made it a 2-0 affair.

Playing in their seventh straight match in as many days, Chery Tiggo made sure not to go down without a fight as combination play from ever-feisty Dindin Santiago-Manabat put them at set point in the third, 24-17.

Creamline, however, exploded for four straight points highlighted by two kills from team captain Alyssa Valdez, 24-21, but Mylene Paat finished the frame through a hammer from the opposite, 25-21.

Creamline was quick to recover in the fourth with a 17-14 lead but a kill by Jaja Santiago gave Chery Tiggo back the upperhand at 21-20. Santiago-Manabat, with her 30th point in the game, went for a kill to force a fifth set, 25-23.

In the deciding set, Chery Tiggo established an early 5-0 run before Tots Carlos put Creamline on the board. Another backrow attack from Santiago, though, made it a seven-point game, 9-2.

Santiago hit one from the middle to put the icing on the cake for the embattled Chery Tiggo.

After asserting dominance in Game 1, Creamline lost in four sets in Game 2 with Chery Tiggo forcing a rubber match, 25-18, 17-25, 25-16, 25-21.

—JMB, GMA News