MANILA, Philippines – Creamline hardly missed a beat in its return to the PVL All-Filipino Conference finals as it swept the semifinals against Chery Tiggo without a single set dropped, ending with a 26-24, 25-21, 25-21 Game 2 ouster at the PhilSports Arena on Saturday, December 9.
In her first full conference as a starting setter, Kyle Negrito steered the winning offense anew with 18 excellent sets, helping four Cool Smashers breach double-digit scoring, led by Tots Carlos’ 19 off 18 attacks and 1 ace.
Jema Galanza was not far behind in the tally with 17 points, while Alyssa Valdez again completed the Creamline MVP scoring trifecta with 14.
Against a desperate comeback attempt with Chery Tiggo’s conference on the line, Creamline held steady in the endgame and leaned on its veteran leaders to pull off the late escape.
“We’re happy that we got back in the finals, but I think, we still have to up our games to get what we want, and that’s to win the finals,” said Creamline head coach Sherwin Meneses in Filipino.
“We’ll just prepare and watch the two teams left who will still play on Tuesday. Next training, we’ll focus on our own system first because we still don’t know who we’ll face in the finals.”
Despite its best efforts, Chery Tiggo only got as near as 20-22 late in third set off a Valdez attack error, before a Carlos crosscourt kill and a Risa Sato block on Shaya Adorador pushed Creamline to match point, 24-20.
EJ Laure, stepping in for her ailing sister Eya, saved one match point with an off-the-block hit, but Michele Gumabao got her right back with a game-ending kill for her only point of the game.
The elder Laure paced the conference-ending loss with 14 points on 12 attacks, 1 block, and 1 ace, as Pauline Gaston and Adorador scored 9 and 8, respectively. Eya labored her way through a 5-point finish, while former MVP Mylene Paat was held scoreless in two sets played. – Rappler.com