Creamline hot on cold, wet night

MANILA, Philippines — Creamline extended its streak of magnificence as it booked a record 12th straight semifinal appearance with a 25-21, 25-20, 25-21 smashing of PLDT yesterday in the Premier Volleyball Invitational Conference at the PhilSports Arena.

It was a third straight victory for the Cool Smashers, who stayed hot on a cold, rainy night and thus got a crack at adding another hardware after six championships, two runner-up finishes and three third-place efforts.

The proud franchise, which has never conceded a set this conference, will shoot for win No. 4 against a young Akari side tomorrow.

Tots Carlos came through again, firing a match-best 21 points that she laced with three missile-like aces in the third set as they erased a four-hit deficit and turned things around in their favor.

Carlos was quick to point at hard work as their strength.

“Sa ganung moments, lagi sinasabi ni (Creamline) coach Sherwin (Meneses), lagi lang namin isipin paano o-overcome,” said Carlos. “Nakuha namin yan sa training extra, lahat nang ginagawa namin nakikita na resulta ngayon.”

Jema Galanza scattered 12 while skipper Alyssa Valdez chipped in 11 while practically doing everything in offense and defense as they sent the High Speed Hitters to 1-1.

Earlier, Chery Tiggo downed Gerflor, 25-19, 25-20, 25-18, and Petro Gazz outlasted F2 Logistics, 20-25, 25-22, 25-12, 33-35, 15-9, in a fierce battle to stay in the semis hunt.

Last year’s Reinforced Conference MVP Mylene Paat led the way for the Crossovers, who claimed their second win in three starts that kept them in the race for one of the two spots from Pool A.

“I’m very happy on how they played but definitely there’s still a lot of things that we still need to improve on,” said Chery Tiggo coach Aaron Velez. “Kailangan maging mabilis ang start namin, so that’s one thing I think that we have to pick up. I also like the fact that everybody was able to step up.

“Kailangan namin i-work out ang chemistry namin, yung communication dapat maging smooth in preparation for our next match,” he added.

Grethcel Soltones, for her part, unleashed a masterful 31-hit performance in powering the Angels to a 3-1 record in Pool B and closer to the semis.

“Mahal na mahal ko talaga teammates ko kaya pag binibigay sa akin ang bola, binubuhos ko na talaga lahat,” said Soltones.

It was a heartbreaking defeat for the Cargo Movers, who played their second five-set game in three days and dropped this one in falling to a 3-1 mark.

“It was my fault, don’t bash the players,” said an apologetic F2 mentor Regine Diego.