Creamline proved to be too much in the end, booting out Chery Tiggo in Game 2 via sweep, 26-24, 25-21, 25-21, en route to its sixth-straight Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference finals appearance, Saturday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
The Cool Smashers, who remained unbeaten in this conference after 13 games, have now starred in 10 of the last 11 PVL finals since 2018.
“Masaya kami na nakabalik kami sa finals pero siguro mas tataasan pa namin yung gusto namin makuha, yun nga yung manalo sa finals,” said Creamline head coach Sherwin Meneses as the team is now gunning for its seventh overall title in the league.
The Crossovers posed a great threat in the opener with Eya Laure, who is currently under the weather, forcing a deuce. She tied the game at 24-all after a successful drop ball to keep Chery Tiggo alive in the opener.
Unfortunately, EJ Laure committed an attack error in the ensuing play before firing an attack straight into the hands of Jeanette Panaga. That allowed the Cool Smashers to take the first set.
The Crossovers never recovered from there, yielding the next two sets to absorb their fifth consecutive loss and bow out of the finals race.
“Magpe-prepare 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 Meneses, as the Choco Mucho-Cignal series went to Game 3 after the latter scored a bounce back victory earlier in the day.
“Next training namin focus muna kami sa sistema namin kasi di natin alam sino maglalaro sa finals,” added the PVL champion coach.
Reigning MVP Tots Carlos finished with 19 points to lead all scorers to go along with 13 excellent receptions and seven excellent digs.
Meanwhile, Jema Galanza and Alyssa Valdez added 17 and 14 points, respectively, in the one-hour, 26-minute victory.
Creamline will battle the winner of the Cignal-Choco Mucho semifinal series in the finale on Thursday, 6:00 PM at the Mall of Asia Arena.
On the other hand, EJ Laure led Chery Tiggo with 14 points while Pauline Gaston and Shaya Adorador had nine and eight points, respectively.
Eya was limited to just five points while Mylene Paat was held scoreless in the loss.
