Creamline achieved what Cignal had failed to do earlier, repeating over Chery Tiggo, 26-24, 25-21, 25-21, to book another finals ticket in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig Saturday night.
The Cool Smashers flourished with their renowned power game they complemented by a stellar blocking performance that played a pivotal role in closing out the hard-fought first two sets. They then turned an initially back-and-forth duel in the third into a convincing win with Tots Carlos anchoring the victory and Michele Gumabao wrapping it up with a baseline hit.
“It’s all hard work. Alam namin na hindi biro ang kalaban, so we stuck to our game plan and we’re happy to execute them,” said playmaker Kyle Negrito, who produced 18 excellent sets to clinch the game’s top honors.
The victory mirrored their 25-18, 27-25, 25-22 triumph in the opener of their best-of-three semis series last Thursday with the Cool Smashers reaching the championship for the 10th time for a shot at a seventh crown in the league organized by Sports Vision.
“Thankful din ako sa mga teammates ko for the patience and confidence na binibigay nila sa akin,” added Negrito, who has more than filled up the spot left by the multi-titled Jia de Guzman.
Creamline also moved two wins away from replicating its feat in the 2019 Open Conference which the Cool Smashers retained via a rare 20-game sweep.
“Masaya kami na nakabalik kami sa finals pero siguro mas tataasan pa namin yung gusto namin makuha, yun nga yung manalo sa finals, magpeprepare muna kami ulit kung sino sa dalawa yung kalaban kasi maglalaro pa sila sa Tuesday then tsaka pa lang kami makakascout kung sino yung makakalaban namin,” said Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses. “Next training namin focus muna kami sa sistema namin kasi di natin alam sino maglalaro sa finals.”
Earlier, Choco Mucho forced a sudden death for the other championship berth by getting back at Cignal, 25-23, 25-22, 25-22. They dispute the slot on Tuesday at 6 p.m. with Game One of the best-of-three finals set on Thursday.
Carlos sizzled with 19 points, the last two keeping the Crossovers at bay, 23-20, in the third frame, while Jema Galanza provided a solid backup of 17 points.
“We’ve been through a lot without ate Jia (de Guzman) and Celine (Domingo). But we’re really happy we’re here yung collective effort ng team maganda yung kinalabasan and also we’re just happy na si Kyle nag-step up din sa game and she knows what to do,” said the hard-hitting Carlos. “Masaya lang kami kasi pasok na kami sa finals but yun nga. Syempre di pa yun nagtatapos one game at a time, one point at a time balik kami sa training bukas (Sunday).”
Alyssa Valdez also put up an impressive 14-point showing and Pangs Panaga added 10 points with the duo also combining for five kill blocks for the Cool Smashers, who thus stretched their unbeaten run to 13 following a sweep of the 12-team elims phase.
The Crossovers actually took command midway in the first set, 16-12, but the latter crawled back to tie it at 18 and snatched the lead on next play. But EJ Laure’s back-to-back hits enabled Chery Tiggo to regain the lead.
The Cool Smashers, however, countered with a Panaga quick attack and a Valdez block off Mylene Paat, setting the stage for a frenetic finish.
Eya Laure scored on an out-of-system play to force the set’s 10th deadlock at 24 but EJ Laure hit a wide attack and Panaga foiled her in Chery Tiggo’s last assault bid.
While Creamline controlled the second frame, which also featured eight standoffs, Chery Tiggo flashed resiliency and rallied from 18-22 down by scoring the next three points on a Valdez service error, a Carlos long hit and an EJ Laure block on Gumabao.
But Eya Laure failed to keep the ball in play on a flawed second pass and Galanza put the team at set point with an off-the-block hit before the former Adamson standout blocked another Paat attack in the middle.
EJ Laure, who had a measly one-point showing in Game One, exploded for 14 points but Eya Laure and the rest struggled with Pauline Gaston emerging as the second best scorer with nine points.
Eya Laure, who pumped in 18 points in the series’ opener, only had five markers while Shaya Adorador stepped up to fire eight points and Cza Carandang and Ces Robles settled for six and four points, respectively.
