Photo courtesy: pvl.ph
CREAMLINE smashed its way past a hapless Army side, scoring a lopsided 25-15, 25-20, 25-12 victory to move a win away from formalizing its stint in post-elims play of the Premier Volleyball League All Filipino Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig on Tuesday.
Save for an early challenge from a game Army side, it was all-Creamline show with coach Sherwin Meneses having the luxury of fielding his other players for the needed confidence-boost in preparation for a wild stretch run in the single round elims with six teams all in the hunt for the four berths in the next round.
But with a 5-1 (win-loss) slate, the Creamline looks a cinch to nail one of the coveted slots against either a surging PLDT next Tuesday or a struggling Akari on March 14.
While starters Tots Carlos and Michele Gumabao still led the assault with 17 and 11 points, respectively, Rose Vargas came away with seven markers, middle Risa Sato scored five points, and Rizza Mandapat and Pau Soriano had three and two points, respectively for the defending champions, who came up with 42 attack points against the Lady Troopers’ 29.
They also pounced on their rivals’ erratic service reception and scored 10 aces, including four from Vargas and drew 19 points from the Lady Troopers’ 19 unforced errors while giving up 10 of their own.
Honey Royse Tubino fired 12 points while Lut Malaluan, Nene Bautista and Jeanette Villareal combined for 18 points. But after battling their fancied rivals in the first 12 minutes marred by mishits and miscues, the Lady Troopers lost steam and failed to measure up with the Cool Smashers’ power game and hustle plays.
“May opportunity lang talaga makalaro ung mga stringers. Yung training naman ng first 6 namin eh same lang din ng stringers, so alam nila yung gagawin. We’re happy kasi maganda ung nilaro nila,” said Meneses. “Mahaba pa naman ang liga, so matutulungan pa naming yung isa’t isa.”
Already without ace Alyssa Valdez, who is still recuperating from an injury, Creamline also played without heavy-hitting Jema Galanza, who was under the weather.
“I feel good since we really wanted to win while letting my other teammates play. It’s very fulfilling seeing them play,” said Carlos, who clinched the game’s top honors. pvl.ph
