Creamline surged past Capital1 with a decisive 25-18, 25-14, 25-15 victory Thursday in a big bounce-back win following a shock shutout loss to a resurgent Chery Tiggo in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference prelims at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The victory, their fifth in six games, propelled the Cool Smashers back to the top, aiming to embark on a new winning streak after a remarkable run of 19 consecutive victories, including the 15 matches they swept to secure the last of two AFC titles contested last year.
Tots Carlos delivered a 14-hit game, including 12 kills, while impressively maintaining a 60 percent attack efficiency. Despite her standout performance, the former UP stalwart with multiple PVL MVP trophies admitted the team’s disappointment over their recent setback, which not only halted their roll but also tightened the leaderboard race.
“We were disappointed (with the loss), so we went back to basics during training,” she said. “We focused on improving our communication and minimizing errors.”
While acknowledging the skills of the Solar Spikers, observers noted that the defending champions did not need to exert excessive effort to recover from their loss to the Crossovers. But they still approached their less-experienced rivals with due respect, particularly in the opening set.
Although Creamline dominated the next two frames, they faced a brief upturn from the Solar Spikers in the third, as Capital1 fought back to narrow gap. However, Creamline stayed in control, eventually sealing the win with Bernadette Pons scoring the final point off the block.
Capital1 dropped to 1-5.
Pons finished with seven markers while Jema Galanza, Alyssa Valdez and Michele Gumabao matched five-point outputs and Pangs Panaga and Risa Sato added four points apiece for Creamline, which barely beat Capital1 in attack points, 35-30.
But the Cool Smashers controlled the net, producing eight blocks against their opponents’ four, while capitalizing on the Solar Spikers’ shaky service reception, coming away with eight aces.
They also gained 24 points from their rivals’ miscues while conceding 13 of their own.
Creamline will next face Cignal on Tuesday before taking on Petro Gazz on April 6.
