Kat Bell and Cherry Tigo celebrate their win against the ZUS Coffee Thunderbells in the PVL Reinforced Conference. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines – Cherry Tigo advanced to the quarterfinals of the PVL Reinforced Conference after beating underdog ZUS Coffee in a quick 25-18, 25-18, 25-19 win at the Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday.
Kat Bell led the Crossovers with 28 points on 24 attempts, a 44 percent offensive efficiency rate and four blocks for the 5-2 Cards.
“There are still many things to fine-tune. Even though we won, we need to prepare the team for the quarterfinals,” coach Kungfu Reyes said in Filipino.
Read: PVL: Choco Mucho survives, outlives Cherry Tigo
Cherry Tigo’s coaches, Kung Fu Reyes and Kat Bell, pulled off a come-from-behind victory. #PVL2024 @INQUIRERSports pic.twitter.com/55aQSV5ttw
— Lance Agcaoil (@LanceAgcaoilINQ) August 17, 2024
“We did some good things, especially around the net, but we still have some mistakes to correct and we need to fix them during training,” he added.
Filling in for an injured teammate, Cherie Tigo ala Galan’s second-leading scorer, Mylène Paat, scored 11 points to help the Crossovers bounce back after their loss to Choco Mucho.
“We were able to control ZUS Coffee, but in the first set [the Thunderbelles’] “The rally was really good, but in the middle I finally got the timing right to get to the end,” Reyes said.
The Thunderbells were led by Japanese transfer player Asaka Tamaru’s 12 points, but were searching for a win that would mark a breakthrough for the franchise after losing all seven of its games.
With little resistance from ZUS Coffee, Chery Tiggo launched a 5-1 storm to take a 20-15 lead in the deciding set.
Read: PVL: Chery Tiggo locals confident of Khat Bell’s revival
Bell stopped Mitch Gamit, who had nine points, and scored the Crossovers’ final five points in the win.
“I’m very proud of my team and I’m impressed with their attitude and motivation to get back in the gym and work hard this week. They really put in the effort this week,” Bell said.
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ZUS will face Creamline on Thursday for their final chance to win the conference.
Cherry Tiggo will be able to move up the table if they can hold on for a win against Petro Gaz on Thursday.
