STA. ROSA, LAGUNA – Creamline punched its ticket to the semifinals after handing Chery Tiggo its first loss of the season, 25-23, 20-25, 25-12, 32-30 in the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference, Saturday at the Sta. Rosa Sports Complex here.
Yeliz Basta steered the Cool Smashers with 22 points on 19 attacks, two aces, and a block to go along with 10 excellent digs while the pair of Jema Galanza and Alyssa Valdez added 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Middle blockers Celine Domingo and Jeanette Panagga chipped in 10 points apiece while Jia De Guzman glued things together with 23 excellent sets to go along with four markers as Creamline remained immaculate with a 5-0 standing.
“Syempre yung fourth set talagang anyone’s game na. We’re lucky napunta yung breaks sa amin. May mga lapses pero syempre kailangan naming makabawi and itetrain namin kung ano yung mga lapses namin pero syempre thankful kami at nanalo today,” said Creamline head coach Sherwin Meneses.
“Every game naman pinaghahandaan namin. Either first game, last game, semifinals, same yung preparation namin,” he added.
With the Crossovers lurking, Valdez nailed a kill to push the Cool Smashers at match point, 24-23, but Jema Galanza was caught overreaching which sent the game to a deuce.
It was a back and forth affair from there with Mylene Paat eventually tying the game at 30-all. That, however, proved to be it as Creamline finally caught a break with Domingo converting back-to-back quicks to deal Chery Tiggo its first loss of the conference.
Jelena Cvijovic top scored for the Crossovers, who dropped to 5-1, with 18 points while Paat and Roselle Baliton had 14 and 12 in a losing cause.
Both teams missed the chance to use the league’s newest challenge system after the equipment malfunctioned right after the PLDT-Petro Gazz match.
Creamline takes on F2 Logistics next on Tuesday at 5:30 PM at the Smart Araneta Coliseum while Chery Tiggo looks to bounce back against Petro Gazz on Saturday, 5:30 PM at the Sta. Rosa Sports Complex.
