By Abby Toralba
CONTINUING to thrive under pressure, Creamline humbled the Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh side of Vietnam yesterday 25-23, 25-23, 25-17 to clinch the first finals slot in the Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
Playmaker Jia de Guzman came up with a 17-excellent set game while finding a weakness on the Vietnamese defense and Tots Carlos, Alyssa Valdez and Jema Galanza provided the offensive sock as Creamline improved to 4-0 while handing their foes their third straight loss.
“The players responded sa mga pinagagawa namin kaya nasa finals kami. Pero di pa tapos ang goal, hopefully makuha namin kaya kailangan pang pag-trabahuan,” said Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses.
The win was the Cool Smashers’ seventh straight, counting four in the eliminations, and they moved within two victories of keeping the title.
They end their semis campaign against the Kurashiki Ablaze of Japan on Friday.
Diana Mae Carlos led the Cool Smashers with 16 points, Valdez had a double-double outing of 11 points and 11 excellent receptions while Jema Galanza added 10 markers along with 10 digs.
“Thankful kami sa players kasi nagre-respond sila sa mga sinasabi namin at sa pinapagawa namin kaya siguro nasa finals kami ulit. Pero syempre, lahat ng team gusto mag-champion, hindi pa tapos iyong goal naming. Pagta-trabahuhan pa namin.” said Meneses.
Although Creamline had more unforced errors, 20 to 13 for the visitors, the Cool Smashers dominated in attacks, tallying 51 total points as well as registering 10 blocks and a service ace.
Huong Nguyen led the scoring load for Kihn Bac-bac Nihn with 19 points while Xuan Le had 10 markers, six digs and six excellent receptions.
