Creamline bared its fangs and displayed its championship experience by crushing Chery Tiggo, 25-16, 25-21, 25-20, to make a return trip to the finals in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the jam-packed Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, May 5.
Cool Smashers crush Crossovers, book return trip to PVL finals
May 5, 2024 10:54 AM
At a glance
Creamline bared its fangs and displayed its championship experience by crushing Chery Tiggo, 25-16, 25-21, 25-20, to make a return trip to the finals in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the jam-packed Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, May 5.
Playing before 17,834 energetic fans, the Cool Smashers wasted no time in disposing off the Crossovers by dictating the tempo throughout the 1 hour, 34-minute match to finish the round-robin eliminations with a 2-1 win-loss record.
The straight-set victory, coupled with its four-set win over Petro Gazz against a five-set loss to Choco Mucho, were enough to earn Creamline its 11th finals appearance and second straight to further intensify its title-retention campaign.
“We’re just happy that we won when it mattered,” said Kyle Negrito, who was instrumental in the Cool Smashers’ offense by managing 16 of the team’s 17 excellent sets on top of six points.
“Hindi rin madali yung pinagdaanan namin this conference, yung paghihirap. Pero nagawan namin ng paraan,” she added.
Creamline was actually on the brink of elimination in the preliminaries but managed to win important matches to claim the fourth seed in the semis.
From there, the Cool Smashers regained their championship poise in their bid of strengthening their dynasty in the league.
“Basta ready kami sa lahat ng situation. Kaya yung panalo ngayon, sobrang ganda kasi every point, pinaglabanan namin,” said Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses.
Tots Carlos continued to sizzle for Creamline with 16 points including three blocks while Alyssa Valdez flashed her vintage form with 10 points as Creamline overpowered Chery Tiggo on all fronts.
Overall, the Cool Smashers banked on their solid net defense by posting 12 blocks -- four from Pangs Panaga -- while also limiting the Crossovers’ top spikers Eya and EJ Laure and Mylene Paat with single-digit productions.
Creamline also fired more attacks than Chery Tiggo, 40-32.
The Cool Smashers await the result of the Choco Mucho-Petro Gazz matchup being held at press time to determine their finals rival.