Text and Photo: pvl.ph
F2 Logistics delivered a win so compelling it could define its campaign in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference, beating Creamline in a match that boiled down to heart and nerves, 22-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-19, 15-11, before a huge, roaring crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Tuesday.
In a PVL game held for the first time at the Big Dome and marked by many deadlocks and lead exchanges in all five sets to the delight of the fans, the Cargo Movers proved steadier and fiercer, battling back from two sets down against a team that had swept its first five games in convincing fashion to crash into the semis.
That thriller of an escape did not only stretch F2 Logistics’ win run to three after dropping its first two matches but it also moved the Cargo Movers to solo fourth at 3-2 heading to the final stretch of the single round elims of the season-ending conference organized by Sports Vision.
Yielding the first two sets in heart-breaking fashions, the Cargo Movers struck back hard late in the third, and dominated the fourth before unloading a decisive closing 7-3 kick that ended Creamline’s run in a match it controlled early on.
Three lead changes and seven deadlocks marked the deciding frame but a Kalei Mau kill shattered the last tie at 8 and after F2 took the next point, the Cargo Movers held on to the two-point cushion they padded to four on a Shola Alvarez ace.
Though the former NCAA MVP yielded the point in her next serve that caught the net, Lindsay Stalzer, who anchored the team’s fightback in the third with her stinging blasts, put F2 at match point with a soft hit to an unguarded spot on Zone 5. Then after another service miscue from Iris Tolenada, bench player Elaine Kasilag stepped up with a clincher that crashed into the arms of Ced Domingo, triggering a frenzied F2 celebration while leaving the Cool Smashers and their fans virtually dumb-founded.
Creamline’s loss enabled the idle Chery Tiggo Crossovers to regain a share of the top spot at 5-1 with Petro Gazz staying at third at 3-1 and F2 Logistics closing in a game behind.
