Chery Tiggo stuns Cignal to return to PVL Finals after four-year drought

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Chery Tiggo is back in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Finals for the first time in four years, pulling off a stirring 25-17, 16-25, 25-21, 25-23 victory over the Cignal HD Spikers on Tuesday, August 12, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Ara Galang and Cess Robles led the way with 15 points each, while Imee Hernandez roared back to form with 12. Rookie standouts Renee Peñafiel (10 points) and Erika Deloria, who delivered four clutch markers, also shone in the pressure-packed semifinal.

Ara Galang fires the match-winning spike to send Chery Tiggo to the PVL Finals. [PVL Images]

The Crossovers, who last lifted the PVL crown in 2021, had to overcome a crushing second-set loss and a huge third-set deficit before sealing the win in two hours and five minutes.

“Sobrang saya at sobrang proud ako sa team. Pero hindi pa tapos – may Sunday game pa,”
— Ara Galang, Best Player of the Game

Grit and composure under pressure

Despite trailing in attacks (56-59) and service aces (1-4), Chery Tiggo made up for it with solid net defense, out-blocking Cignal 12-7. Hernandez accounted for four kill blocks, while Robles anchored the floor defense with 11 excellent digs and 11 receptions. Libero Karen Verdeflor added 15 digs.

Setter Jasmine Nabor dished out 21 excellent sets, narrowly edging Cignal’s Gel Cayuna (20).

Coach Norman Miguel praised his squad’s resilience amid illness and incomplete training in the lead-up to the match:

“Nakaka-proud ang buong team… hindi naging madali ’yung pinagdaanan namin… mabuti at na-manage namin at eto yung resulta. Maraming salamat, grateful kay Lord.”

Clutch finish in the fourth set

With the match in the balance, Chery Tiggo rode the momentum from their third-set rally. Robles’ left-handed push gave them a 17-12 lead, and Peñafiel’s timely kill helped fend off a late Cignal charge.

Cignal, led by Erika Santos’ 26-point explosion, twice closed to within one at 23-22 and 24-23, but Hernandez’s quick attack and Galang’s match-winning spike sealed the Crossovers’ ticket to the Finals.

Cignal’s Santos got ample support from Ces Lalongisip (13 points), Roselyn Aquino (7), and Heather Guino-o and Jackie Acuña (6 each), but the HD Spikers couldn’t overcome Chery Tiggo’s defensive wall and poise in the clutch.

The Crossovers will face either the Creamline Cool Smashers or the unbeaten PLDT High Speed Hitters in the PVL On Tour Finals.