Creamline made sure that Alyssa Valdez received the best gift possible on her very special day.
The Cool Smashers cruised to their ninth-straight victory after dispatching the Bali Pure Purest Water Defenders in straight sets, 25-19, 25-15, 25-18, in the PVL Reinforced Conference Season 3, Saturday afternoon at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
“We’re very happy with the wins we’re getting for the past few weeks but I guess it’s very obvious, kitang-kita how our game fluctuated siguro for the past few games din lalo na dito sa latter part,” Creamline skipper Alyssa Valdez said.
“It goes to show na siguro ang dami pa naming dapat gawin sa practices and the tournament is really short and very intense ang schedule. Every week two games, ang iba back-to-back games pa so yung recovery very important,” continued Valdez, who had nine points built on five blocks and four aces on her 26th birthday.
Wriggling past a tight onset, the reigning champions continued to figure in a nip-and-tuck affair after leading at 16-14 in the second set. However, Creamline had a jump on things following the second technical timeout, going on a 7-0 rally that helped the Cool Smashers take a two-sets-to-none buffer.
In the third set, the Cool Smashers kept the Water Defenders at bay, 16-11. With both teams refusing to rest on their laurels, Creamline held on to its cushion to end its elimination round on a high note.
Kuttika Kaewpin powered the Cool Smashers’ sweep of Bali Pure, tallying 14 points, all of which coming from attacks. Jia Morado was given time to rest before the semifinals and did not play in the game. In lieu of the product of Ateneo, Kyle Negrito delivered the goods as she finished with five points, all coming from aces, and 17 excellent sets.
The Water Defenders, meanwhile, ended their campaign with a dismal 0-10 card. Bali Pure reinforcements Alex Vajdova and Danijela Dzakovic supplied 11 markers each. Vajdova netted five of Bali Pure’s eight aces.
The Cool Smashers will have to wait for the outcome of the tiff between Petro Gazz and Motolite to determine their opponent in the best-of-three semifinals on Wednesday.
In case Motolite pulls off a stunner over Petro Gazz, Creamline will sit atop the standings and will face the fourth-seeded team, which will be determined with a playoff on Sunday. But if Petro Gazz wins, Creamline will remain at second spot and will take on PacificTown-Army.
