Creamline finally got its revenge on Chery Tiggo, Monday night.
This, after the Cool Smashers booted out the Crossovers, 25-18, 25-14, 23-25, 25-19 in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Open Conference at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Tots Carlos popped off with 17 points and 16 excellent digs while Jema Galanza added 16 points and nine receptions to help Creamline overcome a gutsy Chery Tiggo side that put up a gallant stand in the third set to extend the series.
“Expected naman namin na hindi ganun kadali yung game kasi siyempre defending champions sila,” said Cool Smashers head coach Sherwin Meneses. “Ready din kami dun sa comeback nila sa third set so naka-recover naman kami agad.”
Tied at 16-all in the fourth frame, Alyssa Valdez kick-started a 5-1 run to give the Cool Smashers a 21-17 advantage.
EJ Laure trimmed the lead to three, but Rachel Austero’s service went long in the next play which put Creamline’s lead back to four.
Tots Carlos fired back-to-back hits to place the Cool Smashers at match point before Jeanette Panaga ended the game with a runner.
“Stay focused lang kami, back to basics siyempre napakalaking bagay nung small things lagi naming sinasabi. I think naging maganda rin yung touch namin sa blocks so medyo gumaan yung bola nila. Alam naman natin yung Chery Tiggo power spike talaga so ayun, napunta yung breaks samin,” added Meneses.
Panaga finished with 15 points for Creamline while Alyssa Valdez and Celine Domingo chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Jia De Guzman delivered 26 excellent sets laced with four points while Kyla Atienza patrolled the Taraflex with 18 excellent digs and eight receptions.
On the other hand, Mylene Paat paced the defending champions with 11 points while EJ Laure chipped in nine markers and eight digs. Dindin Santiago-Manabat was held to just four points in the loss.
The last time these two teams met was in the finale of the 2021 Open Conference finals where the Crossovers bagged the first-ever professional title of the PVL.
Creamline will go up against the winner of the Choco Mucho-PLDT match in the semis on Friday at 6:00 PM while Chery Tiggo will head to the classification face on Sunday against Black Mamba-Army at 11:00 AM.
