Defending champion Creamline showed grace under pressure in turning back upset-conscious Farm Fresh, 25-21, 21-25, 25-20, 25-22, to remain unbeaten in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference Tuesday night at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
The Cool Smashers’ composure in the nip-and-tuck fourth set spelled the difference as they hiked their perfect record to 4-0 for the solo lead.
Veteran winger Bernadeth Pons punched in timely hits to put Creamline in front in the closing stretch of the match before seasoned setter Kyle Negrito and middle Jeanette Panaga delivered the finishing touches to wrap up the almost two-hour encounter.
But Cool Smashers head coach Sherwin Meneses was far from satisfied with how his squad played against a very young Foxies side.
“We had too many errors and it was an ugly win,” Meneses said as he rued Creamline’s 30 errors.
“Farm Fresh is a promising team and I keep reminding the team that they have great potential. You can’t take them lightly because they will definitely give you a run for your money.”
Michele Gumabao once again came up on top on offense with 18 kills and two kill blocks for 20 points while Jema Galanza got 18 markers and 10 digs for the Cool Smashers.
Tots Carlos chipped in 14 markers and had eight excellent receptions, Pons had nine points, Panaga scored seven while Negrito dished out 17 excellent sets she laced with two points including the 1-2 play that put Creamline at match point.
The Cool Smashers broke a 17-17 deadlock in the fourth set with Pons stringing four of Creamline’s 5-2 run for a 22-20 advantage.
Back-to-back errors by the Cool Smashers pushed Farm Fresh within one, 23-22, but Negrito found an opening for her go-ahead play before Panaga won the joust to end the match.
The Foxies dropped their fifth straight game to remain winless.
Trisha Tubu had 19 points, Kate Santiago finished with 15 while Pia Ildefonso added 12 for Farm Fresh, who are yet to win a match in 10 outings since making their debut last conference.
In the first game, Chery Tiggo rebounded mightily from a previous setback as it vented its ire on hapless Gerflor, 25-8, 25-12, 25-20, to improve to a 3-1 record.
Save for some challenging moments late in the third set as head coach Aaron Velez fielded his bench, the Crossovers were in full control of the one-sided match that took only one hour and 24 minutes to be decided.
Eya Laure led 11 other Chery Tiggo players who chipped in on the scoreboard with 12 points including 11 from attacks.
Ces Robles got nine markers in just two sets of play, Imee Hernandez fired seven points while setter Jasmine Nabor displayed excellent net defense with four kill blocks to finish with six points for the Crossovers.
Velez liked how his wards responded to the challenge of bouncing back from a four-set defeat at the hands of Akari last week.
“First congratulations to the entire girls and even the coaching staff. They did great today,” he said.
Chery Tiggo did not hold any punches despite facing a winless team with little firepower to show significant resistance.
“We pointed out for our succeeding games that we cannot be complacent despite our good run. Anything can actually change in a blink of an eye. Momentum can change. I think we have to be aware of that,” Velez said.
The Crossovers pounded the Defenders with 40 kill points, frustrated their rival attackers with 11 kill blocks and made them pay for lack of good reception with eight aces.
Gerflor was able to keep the third set close after getting blown out early in the previous two frames. Chery Tiggo, however, kept its distance to deflect any uprising mounted by the Defenders, who absorbed their fourth loss in as many games in the season-ending conference.
No Gerflor player reached double-digit with Jeanette Panaga putting up six points while Jenny Gaviola and Shang Berte combined for only 10 markers.
The Defenders dropped their ninth game overall since joining the league in the mid-season Invitational Conference.
