Alyssa Valdez took charge in the clutch, firing back-to-back off-the-block hits as Creamline survived a searing Petro Gazz fightback in the fourth to fashion out a 25-19, 16-25, 25-18, 27-25 victory and tie idle Chery Tiggo in the lead in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference eliminations at the Philsports Arena in Pasig on Tuesday.
The Cool Smashers seized control majority of the fourth but wavered, enabling the Angels to strike back and grab the lead at 24-23 and 25-24. But the 2019 champions failed to come up with the needed finishing kick, blowing two set points and a chance to drag the Cool Smashers to a deciding set.
After a Petro Gazz service miscue that tied it at 25, the Cool Smashers came through with a couple of fine defensive gems off the Angels’ attacks, setting Valdez for blasts on both occasions, the clincher actually proved unnecessary as the Angels also committed a net violation in their futile attempt to stop the many-time league MVP’s assault.
Import Yeliz Basa came away with a 28-point game while Valdez finished with 14 points and Jema Galanza added 13 hits with Tots Carlos still feeling her way back into the groove coming off back issues.
Petro Gazz reinforcement Lindsey Vander Weide matched her counterpart’s output while MJ Phillips backed her up with 16 points but Myla Pablo and Jonah Sabete, who fired 14 hits in helping power the Angels past the Choco Mucho Flying Titans last week, settled for seven, and six points, respectively.
The Cool Smashers thus tied the Crossovers at 2-0 while dropping the Angels to joint third with the Cignal HD Spikers, the PLDT High Speed Hitters, the Akari Chargers, and the Flying Titans.
