Creamline inches closer to PVL sweep

Games today (Filoil Flying V Center, San Juan) 2 p.m. – PetroGazz vs BanKo-Perlas 4 p.m. – Creamline vs Motolite

Creamline surprisingly struggled with top hitter Alyssa Valdez and playmaker Jia Morado back in the fold but the Cool Smashers quickly recovered and re-asserted their might over Motolite and fashioned out an 18-25, 25-14, 25-21, 25-14 victory to stay on track for a grand sweep of the PVL Open Conference at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan yesterday.

Motolite came into the opener of their best-of-three series armed to the teeth and surprised the defending champions, who had tried to impose their will early with Valdez and Morado back in starting roster after cutting short their training camp with the Nationals in Japan to spearhead Creamline’s title-retention drive.

But the fourth-seeded squad failed to sustain its hot start and whose offense fizzled out in the face of the Cool Smashers’ strong fightback in the second frame. It was more of the same in the next two sets though Motolite forced Creamline to a tight duel in the pivotal third frame only to crumble as the Cool Smashers unleashed a strong finishing kick – racking up four straight points to go 2-1 up.

It was an all-Creamline show in the fourth, paving the way for the Cool Smashers’ third straight victory over the Motolite squad this conference.

The win didn’t only stretch Creamline’s amazing win run to 17, counting the 16 in the double-round elims of the season ending conference organized by Sports Visions, but it also moved the team three victories away from completing a grand sweep.

But standing in the way are PetroGazz and BanKo-Perlas, which are disputing the other finals berth in their side of the series at presstime with the Angels going all out for a win for a possible crack at the Cool Smashers, whom they humbled in the recent Reinforced Conference finals.

Creamline goes for the clincher today in back-to-back weekend games in the tournament backed by Mikasa, Asics and KFC.