Creamline bucked a slow start and turned back Chery Tiggo, 20-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-22, to barge into the semifinals of the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City Saturday night, March 22.

It was the Cool Smashers’ ninth semifinal appearance in the All-Filipino Conference and 17^th overall since joining the league in 2017.

They also join early semifinalists Akari and Choco Mucho.

Bernadeth Pons and Tots Carlos bannered the offensive onslaught of Creamline, conspiring for 31 of the team’s 58 attacks to finish with 18 and 14 points, respectively, while Bea De Leon took charge of their defense by posting five blocks to finish with 14 points.

Though Chery Tiggo provided rock-solid net defense courtesy of Seth Rodriguez and Ara Galang by posting 12 team blocks, they couldn’t continue the offensive strength of Creamline that also banked on Alyssa Valdez, Pangs Panaga and Kyle Negrito.

Rodriguez and Ces Robles scored 16 and 14 points for the Crossovers, but it wasn’t enough to forge their best-of-three quarterfinals series into a decider. Chery Tiggo lost Game 1, 25-10, 27-25, 25-21.