MANILA, Philippines – There was simply no joking around on April Fool’s Day for defending PVL All-Filipino champion Creamline as it clobbered Akari, 25-18, 25-19, 25-19, to break through in the round robin semifinals at the sold-out PhilSports Arena on Tuesday, April 1.
With the all-important win to evade the brink of elimination in their five-peat conference title bid, the Cool Smashers rose to a 1-1 record ahead of the Chargers despite a standings tie, as the former collected 3 match points compared to the latter’s 2 when they escaped Choco Mucho in five sets.
Former MVP Bernadeth Pons shone like the star she is, collecting a triple-double of 17 points, 15 excellent receptions and 12 digs in just three sets, while fellow MVP Tots Carlos and standout middle blocker Pangs Panaga scored 13 apiece in the blowout win.
The stat sheet, however, did not tell the whole story as Creamline fought tooth-and-nail in the early stages of the latter sets, fighting back from down 13-8 with a massive 17-6 finish to seize the second frame and a 2-0 lead, while being locked in an 11-all tie early in the third.
A go-ahead Bea de Leon quick attack for the 12-11 Creamline lead sparked the beginning of the end for Akari as its own errors coupled with a smattering of Pons kill shots hiked the Cool Smashers’ breakaway to 22-15 coming off a game-sealing 11-4 rally.
Creamline got as high as 8 points ahead, 24-16, off an Alyssa Valdez block-breaker spike, before she again wound up for the finishing kill three possessions later and a second-straight 25-19 result for the win.
“I didn’t need to pressure the team. We just focused on our lapses last game,” Creamline head coach Sherwin Meneses said in Filipino, alluding to the defending champions’ four-set loss to rival Petro Gazz last Saturday, March 29.
“Whatever the result the team gets, what’s important is we know where we went wrong. We gave enough time this time to improve our lapses, and I’m thankful the middle blockers worked well with the rest of the team.”
Eli Soyud paced the forgettable loss with 11 points, one game after her historic 34-point bomb against Choco Mucho, while an error-prone Ivy Lacsina crawled to an inefficient 8-point finish of an 8-of-27 attack clip with 11-of-26 receptions and 8-of-23 digs.
Akari now guns for a bounce-back against Petro Gazz on Thursday, April 3, 4 pm, at the Araneta Coliseum, while Creamline aims to take down its sister team Choco Mucho in the 6:30 pm main event. – Rappler.com