Tots Carlos delivered her best performance as a pro.
Carlos dropped a career-high, powering Creamline to a tight four-set, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22, 25-18, win over Akari for share of the top spot in the 2024 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference, Thursday at the Philsports Arena.
Carlos finished with 31 points on 30 attacks and one ace with a 55-percent attack rate to help the Cool Smashers move to 2-0 and extend their winning streak to 17 games, which dates back to the Second All-Filipino Conference last year.
“Natutuwa ako kasi napakaganda ng laro and sakto lang talaga na yung situation ganun so masaya lang ako na pinagse-serbisyuhan si Coach Sherwin (Meneses),” said Carlos. “Pero ayun po, lagi naman kaming ready.”
“Lagi ko namang sinasabi na kung hindi dahil sa mga tiwala ng teammates, ng mga coaches, ng management, ‘di naman talaga kami mage-excel ng ganito. So nagpapasalamat po ako sa lahat ng suporta lalong lalo na yung mga fans sa lahat ng suportang binibigay nila samin,” she added.
The three-time PVL MVP came up big in the tight fourth set, scoring three points in a 6-1 run to stretch a 13-10 advantage to 19-11. Akari never came back from there, trading hits with Creamline before Carlos slammed the doors shut with two consecutive off-the-block attacks.
“Syempre overall, naging maganda naman. Nakuha namin yung panalo pero ang importante yung ready kami sa lahat ng situations para kung ano ‘man yung mangyari sa loob ng court, ready,” said Cool Smashers head coach Sherwin Meneses.
Jema Galanza backstopped Carlos with 15 points to go along with 14 excellent receptions while team captain Alyssa Valdez and Jeanette Panaga chipped in eight and seven markers, respectively for Creamline in two hours and eight minutes of action.
Bea De Leon and Denden Lazaro-Revilla made their respective debuts for the Cool Smashers after missing their first game. The former recorded five points in two sets played while the latter had 11 excellent receptions.
Kyle Negrito glued things together with 18 excellent sets to go along with four markers while Kyla Atienza had 12 digs.
Creamline will go up against Galeries Tower on Thursday, 4:00 p.m. also at the Philsports Arena.
On the other hand, the Chargers, who have now dropped their second consecutive game to start the tournament, were led by Fifi Sharma with 14 points on 10 attacks, three blocks, and one ace and Dindin Santiago-Manabat with 13 points.
Grethcel Soltones had 10 points in the loss while Faith Nisperos was limited to just eight points.
Akari will look for its first win against Farm Fresh on Tuesday, 6:00 p.m. at the same Pasig venue.
