Batista's 41 steers Chery Tiggo EV past Capital1 in five sets

November 12 ------ YUNI Batista became the PVL’s sixth-ever 40-point scorer as Chery Tiggo EV held off Capital1’s five-set comeback, 27-25, 23-25, 25-12, 22-25, 15-13, in the 2025 PVL Reinforced Conference at the Playtime Filoil Centre.

The Cuban winger dropped a conference-high 41 points on 41 percent success rate, 10 in the fifth set alone. "Going point by point, slowly with patience, step by step, this was the result and I'm so happy for that," Batista said. But it was a third-set surge by the Crossovers sparked a decisive momentum shift, as they opened with a 13-1 tear.

The turnaround came out of nowhere, with the first two sets both decided by slim two-point margins — with Batista sealing the opener, while Capital1’s Oleksandra Bytsenko took the second. Ara Galang held the fort for the locals with 11 points built on eight attacks and three blocks, while Jen Nierva swept the floor with 24 digs and 17 receptions.

The win keeps the Crossovers from sliding to the brink of elimination for now, as they move into a share of ninth place with Choco Mucho at 2-4, with two games remaining in the preliminaries. "Maganda yung start ng second round for us. I think today's game was an eye-opener for everyone in our team na we really can do it, as long as we just set our mindset and winning attitude in every point," Nierva added.

Meanwhile, the Solar Spikers’ two-game win run came to an end, but they remain in fourth place with Farm Fresh at 4-2. Capital1 nearly had a comeback in the bag, with the one-two punch of Bella Belen and Ukrainian winger Oleksandra Bytsenko taking over in the decider. Belen delivered 22 points and nine digs, while Bytsenko fired a dominant 34 points on top of nine receptions. Rachel Austero continued her strong run of form with 11 points, including four blocks. Roma Doromal matched Nierva in floor defense with 19 receptions and 17 digs but ultimately ran out of answers for Batista’s bombs in the endgame

Source: spin.ph