Defending champion Creamline had to sweat it out against Akari before eking out a come-from-behind 26-28, 25-14, 25-23, 25-22, victory for its 10th straight win in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference on Thursday night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
The Cool Smashers banked on their veteran composure to recover from a slow start before displaying nerves of steel in the nip-and-tuck closing stretch of the fourth frame to remain unbeaten in 10 starts.
Tots Carlos showed her scoring prowess posting 23 points built on 21 kills and two kill blocks including the game-sealing denial in the fourth set to lead Creamline.
Jema Galanza got 16 points and 11 digs while Jeanette Panaga and skipper Alyssa Valdez chipped in 12 and nine markers, respectively, for the Cool Smashers.
Creamline squandered five-point lead in the fourth frame and trailed, 20-19, after Galanza committed an attack error. Carlos sparked a 4-1 counterattack to take a 23-21 lead.
Roselle Baliton answered with a quick attack before Galanza pulled the Cool Smashers at match point before Carlos’ block.
Creamline had a slow start as it went down 21-11 in the first set before mounting a huge comeback only to come up short in the extension.
“Too bad we came up short in our comeback attemot in the first set. We had a slow start maybe because we had little time to prepare but the again we’re happy we got the win for a 10-0 record,” Cool Smashers head coach Sherwin Meneses.
Meanwhile, Galeries Tower clawed its way back from a 0-2 hole to stun Gerflor, 18-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-18, 15-11, for its first win in 10 starts.
Roma Joy Doromal finished with 15 points from 10 kills, three kill blocks and two aces to lead the Highrisers. Andrea Marzan had 14 markers while Ysa Jimenez, Graze Bombita, and Raprap Aguilar got points each.
The Defenders remained winless in 10 games and 15 straight overall since joining the league in the mid-season Invitational Conference. Jeanette Villareal got 2 points while Shang Berte had 10 for Gerflor.
Akari finished its campaign with a 5-6 slate.
Dindin Santiago-Manabat posted 13 points and Erika Raagas had 10 for the Chargers, who played sans Faith Nisperos due to a sore back.
