CREAMLINE and PLDT warmed up to their tougher battles in the next round of the the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference preliminaries by sweeping separate foes at the Philsports Arena yesterday.

The Cool Smashers posted their fourth consecutive victory at the expense of Nxled, 25-18, 25-18, 25-20, to become the Pool A winners.

The High Speed Hitters crushed Farm Fresh’s momentum from their back-to-back victories, securing a 25-20, 25-23, 25-23 win to gain the needed push heading into the crucial phase of the prelims.

Creamline, PLDT and Chery Tiggo, as the top three teams in Pool A, will join Pool B’s bottom sides PetroGazz, Choco Mucho and ZUS Coffee.

The other pool consists of Pool B winner Akari, Cignal and Capital 1, as well as Pool A’s lower-ranked squads Farm Fresh, Nxled and Galeries Tower.

The Top 8 teams after the second round of the preliminaries, which starts tomorrow, will advance to the knockout quarterfinals.

“Mag-focus kami sa one game at a time, siyempre iyon ang napaka-importante,” said Cool Smashers coach Sherwin Meneses.

“Kahit sino man ang kalaban mo, bottom man o nasa itaas, kailangang paghandaang mabuti. Lalo na palapit yung quarterfinals, ma-improve ang standing namin. Doon kami mag-focus kung sino man ang kalaban,” he added.

After scoring a combined 51 points in the last two matches, Bernadeth Pons sustained her stellar play with 13 points, 14 digs and eight receptions as Creamline continued its rise from a conference opening five-set defeat to PLDT.

American Erica Staunton hammered 13 kills while Michele Gumabao added 12 points for Creamline.

The High Speed Hitters, who tied the Cool Smashers at 4-1, are glad to get back on the winning track after bowing to the Crossovers that ended a three-match unbeaten streak on last Saturday.

“Everyone is happy with the adjustments we’ve made, we really worked hard,” said PLDT playmaker Kim Fajardo in Filipino, who produced 12 excellent sets and scored three points.

Elena Samoilenko, ranked No. 8 in scoring prior to the match, logged 22 points and nine receptions, while Fiola Ceballos backed up the Russian reinforcement with 11 points and 10 digs.

The Foxies, who dropped to 2-3, were led by Trisha Tubu’s 17 points on 16-of-32 kills.

American Meegan Hart recorded seven points for the Chameleons, who lost for the fourth time in five matches.