A FIRED-UP Creamline side pushed sister squad Choco Mucho on the brink of elimination with a 25-22, 25-14, 25-22 win last night in the Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference before 15,237 fans at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Tots Carlos came through with 25 points as the Cool Smashers rediscovered their winning ways with a 3-1 card.

Creamline tied PLDT Home Fibr, which moved on the cusp of securing its first-ever PVL semifinals appearance with a 17-25, 25-11, 25-20, 25-18 conquest of Army-Black Mamba, in second place.

“I love playing here in MoA,” said Carlos on the biggest crowd this conference.

Jema Galanza added 10 points, while Alyssa Valdez had two blocks to finish with nine points to go with 15 digs and 12 receptions for the Cool Smashers.

Creamline rebounded from last Thursday’s four-set loss to league-leading Cignal which ended its 10-match winning streak dating back from Open Conference.

“I think, hindi nagkulang ng paaala si coach na kami ay champion team. For me, specially, I wanna uplift the morale ng team and I’m really happy with the result. Bumalik na ang good vibes ng team,” said Carlos.

The Flying Titans, who fell to 1-3, had a strong start in the third set before crumbled as the Cool Smashers fought back with Carlos spearheading the fightback.

“We just play basic lang, service receive. Kapag nagbigay kami ng bonus points, puwede kaming matalo,” said Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses.

Cait Viray, still filling in for Kat Tolentino who is sidelined for the second straight match, finished with 12 points while Isa Molde added eight markers for Choco Mucho.

Aside from Tolentino, Desiree Cheng, Cherry Nunag and Thang Ponce were still out due to health issues, while the Flying Titans also missed Aduke Ogunsanya, who was ruled out for the tournament due to an ACL injury.
Coach George Pascua is happy to see his High Speed Hitters connect well, as the club rose to 3-1 in the standings.

“Yung previous tournament namin, yung system hindi namin makuha. Yung chemistry, nakikita natin talaga kung sino ang starting six na puwedeng pang-diinan ba. Yung talagang panlaban na yung character nila as an individual and as a team. Mas intact,” said Pascua.

Four players scored in twin digits for PLDT, as Jules Samonte led the way with 17 points, including two service aces, and collected 20 digs.

Fiola Ceballos added 13 points and 20 receptions, Dell Palomata hammered 12 kills while Chin-Chin Basas contributed 11 points for the High Speed Hitters.

Mika Reyes tallied team-highs three blocks and two service aces to finish with nine points.

“We are very happy na lahat ngayon sa team, talagang nagko-contribute para manalo,” said Reyes, who currently leads the conference in the blocking department.

Rhea Dimaculangan, who also had three blocks, tossed in 20 excellent sets, while libero Kath Arado had 16 receptions and 13 digs.

PLDT, which failed to get past the eliminations in the past two conferences, is facing a difficult stretch against embattled Choco Mucho on Thursday and Cignal in the final day of preliminaries on Saturday.

The Lady Troopers, who missed the services of Royse Tubino, dropped to 2-2 slate.

Jovelyn Gonzaga paced Army with 11 kills while Joanne Bunag added 10 points.

Games Tuesday

(Filoil EcoOil Centre)
2:30 p.m. – Army vs Chery Tiggo
5:30 p.m. – PetroGazz vs Cignal