Cool Smashers tame Warays, clinch PVL quarters seat

Games Wednesday (Filoil Flying V Center) 10 a.m. – Cignal vs IEM (men’s) 4 p.m. – PetroGazz vs Pocari-Air Force (women’s) 6 p.m. – Tacloban vs Iriga-Navy (women’s)

BATANGAS CITY – Alyssa Valdez displayed fine form at the service box in front of a highly partisan crowd as Creamline erased deficits in the last two sets and foiled Tacloban, 25-14, 27-25, 26-24, to roll into the quarterfinals of the Premier Volleyball League Season 2 Reinforced Conference at the Batangas City Sports Coliseum here yesterday.

Valdez swung eight aces, three of them in a crucial windup late in the third that allowed the Cool Smashers to regain control and secure their third straight win and fourth overall in five outings for the solo lead in the season-opening conference of the league organized by Sports Vision.

“It’s always exciting to play not only in my hometown but out of town in general because the crowd is very energetic,” said Valdez, who hails from San Juan, Batangas.

“The game also got tiring because the last two sets got extended but I drew energy from the crowd,” added Valdez, who also had 14 attacks, including four in Creamline’s turnaround from 16-20 down in the second set. She finished with a game-high 22 points.

Thai Kuttika Kaewpin backed Valdez with 16 markers and eight excellent receptions, Serbian Nikolina Asceric had two blocks in her nine-point output while Risa Sato came through with quick attacks and a pair of aces for seven points.

Julia Morado tossed in all but one of the Cool Smashers’ 30 excellent sets and also dished out eight digs on top of her two-point output.

Thais Hyapha Amporn and Sasiwimol Sangpan combined for 25 points while Jovielyn Prado added 11 markers as they took turns in rallying the Fighting Warays in the last two sets where they put up leads of as many as six in the second, 7-13, and four in the third, 18-22, before yielding in the end.

Later in the day, Pocari-Air Force continued its charge as it stopped BaliPure-NU, 25-19, 10-25, 25-17, 25-21, to force a three-way tie for second at 3-2 with its victim and PayMaya.

Earlier, Marck Espejo unloaded powerpacked hits while Rex Intal dominated the net as defending champion Cignal ripped Army, 25-20, 25-16, 25-10, to force a three-way tie for the men’s lead.