Volleyball fans got a sweet treat Saturday in a pair of exciting five-set thrillers in the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference semifinals at the Ynares Centre in Antipolo.
Crowd-favorite Creamline recovered from two sets down to carve out a 22-25, 25-27, 25-21, 25-19, 15-12, victory to take the lead in the round robin semis at the expense of erstwhile unbeaten PLDT Home Fibr.
Tots Carlos was all over the offensive end to punch in 22 points coming off 18 kills, three kill blocks and an ace to go with 12 digs as the Cool Smashers improved to 2-0 slate.
Jeanette Panaga, Jema Galanza and Alyssa Valdez all scored 14 points for Creamline while Jia Morado-De Guzman dished out 23 excellent sets that helped the Cool Smashers hammer down 60 attack points.
PLDT saw its two-game winning streak come to a screeching halt. Del Palomata finished with 14 points, Mika Reyes had 13 markers while Fiola Ceballos and Jules Samonte added 11 and 10 markers, respectively, for the Power Hitters.
Meanwhile, Cignal carved out a 26-24, 26-28, 25-18, 18-25, 16-14 victory over Army.
The win by the HD Spikers pulled the plug on the Lady Troopers’ bid in the spikefest that will feature foreign team Taipei KingWhale.
The two squads battled tooth and nail in the first two sets before Cignal took control of the third and appeared primed for a trouble-free fourth frame.
But it wasn’t the case as Army clawed back to force a decider.
It was during this time when veteran Rachel Daquis rose to the occasion, firing six points early en route to a 16-14 fifth set conquest.
It was middle-blocker Ria Meneses who letup the scoreboard with 23 built around 21 attics and two blocks while Ces Molina and Daquis chipped in 16 and 15 points, respectively.
The win based Cignal’s record to 1-1 while the setback dropped Army’s slate to a woeful 0-3.
Next up for the HD Spikers is the Taiwanese entry Taipei KingWhale on Monday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Also entered in the tournament is the national team, a bunch of players revving up for the 2022 Asian championships.
