Creamline rallies to beat Perlas

MANILA, Philippines -  Creamline blew an early one-set lead but sprang back in the last two to foil Perlas, 25-16, 9-25, 17-25, 25-13, 15-13, and join Pocari in the early lead in the short quarterfinal round late Saturday at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.

Alyssa Valdez gave the Cool Smashers a big lift at crunch time, ramming back-to-back kills to shatter a 13-all count and hand Creamline the much-needed victory in the short phase where the third to sixth-ranked teams at the end of the eliminations battle for the last two semifinal slots minus their elims records.

Kuttika Kaewpin, Valdez’s teammate in 3BB Nakornnont in the Thai League, hammered in three kills even as Diana Carlos made two miscues as the Cool Smashers posted a 10-5 lead.

But the Spikers retaliated behind skipper Dzi Gervacio, back after missing their previous outing due to flu, who strung up three points, including the game-tying hit, in a Spikers’ 4-0 rally before losing steam in the end.

Valdez fired 21 points, Kaewpin racked up 19 with 13 excellent receptions and 11 digs to boot while American Laura Schaudt had four blocks in her eight-point output for Creamline.

Alex Cabanos tossed in 34 of the team’s 35 excellent sets.

Brazilian outside hitter Rupia Inck punched in 19 points while locals Katherine Bersola and Gervacio churned out 13 and 10 points, respectively, for the Spikers, who failed to avenge their stinging four-setter loss to the Cool Smashers, who shut the door on their bid for an outright semifinal entry.

Japanese setter Naoko Hasimoto dished out 28 excellent sets for Perlas.

“We just believed that we can win. That was our only instruction in the end when the game was tied at 13, smile and believe you will win and the players responded. Alyssa’s leadership carried us as well as the guts of Alex (Cabanos). She was down the previous sets but she just kept on setting,” said Creamline assistant coach Oliver Almadro.

The Cool Smashers launched a 10-1 assault anchored on Kaewpin to build an 18-8 cushion in the first set but lost steam in the second as the Spikers answered with a resounding 14-0 counterattack behind Amanda Villanueva, Bersola and Inck to close the frame which saw Perlas outspike Creamline, 17-4.

In the third set, Perlas seized the upperhand halfway in the frame, 18-14, which it stretched to a closing eight-point spread after being buried in a 0-5 hole.

Creamline, however, countered with a 10-3 burst as it pounced on Perlas’ errors for a 21-11 edge in the fourth to set the tone for the dominating set finish.