Sherwin Meneses reached a career milestone in style, steering Creamline to his 100th victory as head coach with a commanding 25-10, 27-25, 25-21 win over Chery Tiggo in Game 1 of their best-of-three quarterfinal series in the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference on Tuesday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
Meneses, who has been the chief tactician of the Cool Smashers since the 2022 season leading, grabbed his 100th win in just 115 games — a staggering 86.9 winning percentage.
“Ayun masaya at na-achieve yung 100 (wins) pero sana mas marami pang panalo na dumating, especially this season, this conference na madagdagan yung panalo pa , especially sa mga next games namin,” said Meneses, who is the winningest head coach in league history with seven championships.
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The top-ranked Creamline opened with a dominant first set before showcasing their championship composure in the second, rallying from a 20-23 deficit.
Despite the eight-seeded Chery Tiggo earning a crucial 25-24 set point, Pangs Panaga stepped up in the clutch, delivering a crucial block on Shaya Adorador to seal the 27-25 comeback.
With the Cool Smashers ahead 22-17 in the third, the Crossovers tried to fight back with three straight points courtesy of Ara Galang and errors by their opponents.
However, Tots Carlos atoned for her earlier miscue with two heavy hits while an Ara Galang attack error gave Creamline a one-hour and 45-minute win.
“Siyempre quarterfinals ito eh, wala talagang magpapatalo ng pa-ganon ganon na lang. Inexpect naman namin talaga na lalaban talaga yung Chery Tiggo so ready lang kami doon sa situation,” said Meneses.
Alyssa Valdez was efficient in everything that she did to lead Creamline, scoring 16 points on 16-of-25 attacks to go with 13-of-22 excellent digs and 9-of-21 excellent receptions.
Carlos added 13 points, while the middle blocker duo of Bea De Leon and Panaga made five blocks each and finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Kyle Negrito also tossed 20 excellent sets en route to the balanced attack by the defending champions.
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Game 2 is set for Saturday at 6:00 PM at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Shaya Adorador was the lone Crossover in double figures with 10 points along with 13 excellent receptions.
Meanwhile, Cess Robles and Pauline Gaston each delivered seven points.
