CREAMLINE swept Chinese-Taipei’s KingWhale, 25-21, 25-19, 25-8, to annex the Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference crown at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Cool Smashers ended second set with a 15-3 run and put out the fight of the Taiwanese club with a dominant showing in the third to claim their second championship of the season.

It was Creamline’s fifth title overall – the most in the PVL.

Earlier, Cignal outlasted PLDT, 17-25, 20-25, 27-25, 25-22, 15-5, to secure the bronze medal.

Tots Carlos bagged her second straight conference MVP award to go with her Best Opposite Spiker plum.

Carlos finished with a game-high 14 points in the championship clincher while Ced Domingo had four blocks and two service aces for a 11-point effort to capture the Finals MVP honors.

Other awardees were the Cool Smashers’ Alyssa Valdez and the HD Spikers’ Ces Molina (Best Outside Spikers), the High Speed Hitters’ Mika Reyes and Dell Palomata (Best Middle Blockers), KingWhale’s Liao Yi-Jen (Best Setter) and Qiu Shi-Qing (Best Libero).

Jema Galanza, bucking a finger injury, contributed 13 points, while setter Jia de Guzman tossed in 19 excellent sets and collected nine digs for the Cool Smashers.

Valdez, hardly showed any effects of left ankle injury she sustained against the visitors Friday, had nine points, including two aces, and 13 digs.

Brazilian Bea de Carvalho topscored for KingWhakle with 12 points, including two blocks, and tallied nine digs while Chang Chih-Hsuan added eight points, seven digs and nine receptions..

KingWhale entered the gold medal match having a 4-0 semis record, but it could not get the job done in the game that matters most.

Down by two sets and looked like goners after trailing 4-13 in the third, the HD Spikers were able to get a lifeline with Roselyn Doria producing clutch hits to frustrate the High Speed Hitters.

Cignal eventually forced a deciding set and raced to a 6-0 advantage in the fifth with setter Gel Cayuna delivering three service aces.

The HD Spikers then completed the come-from-behind victory after skipper Rachel Anne Daquis hammered the match-clinching kill.

It was Cignal’s second straight third place trophy, following up its podium finish in the Open Conference.

What’s more special for the HD Spikers was they were able to reach the top three despite going through a lot of adversity – even up to the very end, where starters Ces Molina and Ria Meneses missed the last two matches of the tournament as they entered health and safety protocols.

Daquis came through with 16 points, including two blocks, and 14 digs, Doria had conference-best nine blocks for a 14-point outing while Jerrili Malabanan chipped in 13 points and seven receptions for Cignal.

Cayuna tossed in 20 excellent sets and fired a team-high four aces while Jackie Acuña, who was acquired by the HD Spikers during the conference break, also made significant contributions with two blocks and two service aces to finish with seven points.

Mika Reyes tallied 19 points, including six blocks and two service aces, Dell Palomata hammered 17 kills while Erika Santos had 14 kills for PLDT.

Chin-Chin Basas and Jules Samonte added 12 and 11 points, respectively, while veteran playmaker Rhea Dimaculangan came through with 24 excellent sets for the High Speed Hitters.

PLDT went 1-4 overall in five-setter matches this season.