BALIPURE HOLDS OFF CREAMLINE, NEARS CHAMPIONSHIP BERTH
BaliPure came out of a layoff-induced stupor in the first set to turn back Creamline, 22-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-21, Saturday night and move within a win of a Finals berth in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference.
Jennifer Keddy proved a solid anchor for the Water Defenders, who slowed down Cool Smashers star Alyssa Valdez en route to a 1-0 victory in their best-of-three series at Filoil Flying V Centre.
Keddy and BaliPure were especially dominant in the final two sets. The top seeds pounced on the Cool Smashers’ sloppy reception late in the match with Keddy pounding out back-toback aces to put BaliPure at match point at 24-17.
Creamline pushed back and unloaded four straight points but BaliPure nipped the uprising with Aiko Urdas rebounding from a blocked attempt by softly dropping a point that caught the Cool Smashers’ defense napping.
The victory, which took two hours to hammer out, kept BaliPure’s mastery over Creamline in the season-opening conference of the league organized by Sports Vision.
A fourth straight victory over Creamline on Tuesday will give BaliPure the first championship berth.
No. 2 seed Power Smashers and the third-seeded defending champion Pocari Sweat were disputing the other finals seat in their own best-of-three series at press time.
The Water Defenders clearly struggled coming off a weeklong rest they earned after snatching one of two outright semifinal berths. But once it got its engine humming, BaliPure went on a juggernaut.
“We just focused on ourselves during the break. We practiced hard and got ready for the semis,” said Keddy, who finished with 24 hits. “Everyone just got together and worked together, especially in blocking.”
Risa Sato produced a solid 13-hit output while Grethcel Soltones added 11 markers for BaliPure, which detonated in 50 attack points on Creamline. Valdez, a normal 20-point producer in the elimination round and quarterfinals, could only manage 12 for Creamline, which couldn’t break through BaliPure’s defense. Still, it was a tight match in the first two sets that no team led by more than three, with the Cool Smashers fighting back from 19-21 down in the opening frame by winning the next five points to go up, 24-21, capped by Kuttika’s ace. Sato scored on a quick set to move the Water Defenders to within two but Laura Schaudt hammered in a kill at the back to clinch the set for the Cool Smashers. Creamline broke away from a 19-all count in the second set by taking four of the next five points for a 23-20 lead.