By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Pauline Gaston provided a crucial spark off the bench as the Chery Tiggo Crossovers stunned the Creamline Cool Smashers, 25-20, 24-26, 21-25, 25-17, 17-15, in the PVL Invitational at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City on Saturday, August 23.

The Negrense middle blocker, who finished with 10 points, stepped up during the decisive moments of the match, helping stabilize the Crossovers’ offense and contributing key hits that shifted momentum in their favor.

Ara Galang led the Crossovers with 20 points, rookie Renee Peñafiel added 18 markers, while Ilongga Princess Robles tallied 16 markers alongside 10 digs and 10 receptions.

“Very grateful and happy at talagang nilaban namin. ‘Yung last game namin, hindi kami ‘yun — kaya kailangan naming bumawi,” Peñafiel said during her Player of the Game interview.

With the win, Chery Tiggo improved to 2-1, trailing only the unbeaten PLDT High Speed Hitters (3-0).

Creamline dropped to 1-2 and faces an uphill climb to remain in title contention.

Jema Galanza led Creamline with 23 points, while Michele Gumabao and Alyssa Valdez chipped in 21 and 17, respectively.

Meanwhile, Alleiah Malaluan continued her strong rookie campaign to help the High Speed Hitters sweep sister team Cignal HD Spikers, 25-19, 25-13, 25-22.

The former De La Salle University Lady Spikers standout finished with 12 points, including 11 attacks, earning her a second consecutive Best Player of the Game award as PLDT improved to a 3-0 win-loss.

“It pushes me to raise the bar even higher, kasi alam ko my ates are there to guide me sa loob ng court,” Malaluan said.

“They always assure me — every time I make a mistake, they tell me, ‘Okay lang, [bumawi] ka,’” she added.

On the other hand, Kobe Shinwa University (1-0) debuted with a 25-14, 27-25, 25-17 sweep of ZUS Coffee Thunderbelles (0-1).

Setter Sakura Furuta finished with 18 excellent sets to be named Player of the Game./ASC, WDJ