Cool Smashers outhustle Lady Troopers in 4-setter

CREAMLINE bucked a second set loss with superior firepower and class to beat Army Black Mamba, 25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 25-17, and set its title drive in motion in the Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City on Thursday.

Four Cool Smashers churned out double-digit outputs to underscore their awesome offensive while their middle blockers and the rest kept their defense almost unbreakable at the net and on the floor to fashion out the one-hour and 56-minute victory.

It was a rousing win for a team seeking a second straight pro championship after running away with the Open Conference trophy last April. But the Cool Smashers are bracing for a tougher test given the strength of the rest of the semifinals cast, made more daunting by the presence of two foreign guest squads.

But Kobe Shinwa of Japan and King Whale of Thailand won’t be seeing action until Monday when they clash in an explosive twin bill capped by the Creamline-cignal rematch at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Tots Carlos, sporting a pink hair complementing the franchise’s colors, spewed fire from all angles and finished with 21 attack points for a 24-hit output, while Alyssa Valdez, Jema Galanza and Pangs Panaga hammered out 18, 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the Cool Smashers.

So overpowering were the crowd favorites that they produced 20 attack points more than the Lady Troopers, 63-43, while coming away with eight blocks, including three from Panaga, against their rivals’ six with Jeanette Villareal accounting for all but one.

“We were able to recover from the second set since Army won’t give up that easily,” said Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses, so confident of his wards’ ability to bounce back.

“That’s all we’re looking for

because the game is already there. And everybody contributed,” he added.

Army also finished with four players posting double-digit scores but Jovelyn Gonzaga could only end up with 13 points while Honey Royse Tubino made 11 hits and Joanne Bunag and Villareal chipped in 10 points apiece.

But it was only in the last two sets that Creamline reasserted its might with Carlos soaring for a slew of attacks on both sides, Valdez unleashing her trademark power hits and Galanza backing them up with her own variety of kills.