Coming off a straight-sets defeat, the youthful Kobe Shinwa University vented its frustration on an experienced Creamline side, pulling off a 27-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-21 victory in the 2025 PVL Invitational on Tuesday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
The Japanese collegiate squad improved to 2-1 for solo third place, while pushing the reigning Invitational champions Cool Smashers to the brink of elimination with a 1-3 record.
This marks Creamline’s second consecutive loss after falling to Chery Tiggo in a five-set thriller on Saturday, 20-25, 26-24, 25-21, 17-25, 15-17.
A win by Chery Tiggo later in the day against ZUS Coffee would officially eliminate Creamline from gold-medal contention.
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“Against PLDT yesterday, we played good until the middle of the sets, but our finishing needed a lot of work as we committed a lot of errors in the endgame. This time against Creamline, we served strong and played consistent defense to take the close sets,” said KSU head coach Kiyokazu Yamamoto.
In the third set, with Creamline at set point, 24-21, Jema Galanza misfired on back-to-back attacks, giving Kobe Shinwa a glimmer of hope. But Galanza quickly redeemed herself, blasting an off-the-block hit to seal the set, 25-23.
Kobe Shinwa regrouped in the fourth, breaking away to a 22-16 advantage behind the efforts of Kokoro Yasuma, Nagisa Komatsuda, and Arisu Ishikawa. However, the 10-time PVL champions refused to go down quietly.
Sheena Toring and Galanza combined for five straight points to trim the deficit to just one, 21-22.
Still, the Japanese side held firm. Yuia Yamano, Komatsuda, and Ishikawa delivered three consecutive kills to finish off the match after two hours and 12 minutes.
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Yasuma led Kobe Shinwa with 23 points and 12 receptions, while Ishikawa and Komatsuda added 16 points apiece. Middle blocker Reira Miyazaki contributed 11 points, and Yamano chipped in nine.
Sakura Furuta steered the offense with 21 excellent sets.
Kobe Shinwa looks to strengthen its bid for a Finals berth when it faces Cignal on Thursday at 4:00 PM at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Creamline, meanwhile, will try to end the preliminaries on a high note against ZUS Coffee on Friday at 6:30 PM, also at the Big Dome.
Galanza paced the Cool Smashers with an all-around effort of 20 points, 17 excellent receptions, and 11 excellent digs. Pangs Panaga matched her with 20 points built on 14 spikes and six blocks.
