MANILA – Creamline Cool Smashers squandered a two-set lead before pulling off a 25-15, 25-21, 18-25, 19-25, 15-7 victory over Chery Tiggo Crossovers in Game 1 of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Open Conference finals last night in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte.
After handily dominating the first two sets behind the exploits of Diana Carlos and Jessica Galanza, the Cool Smashers failed to close out the Crossovers in the third and fourth frame to send the match to a fifth set.
However, the Cool Smashers regained their bearings in the fifth frame with a 6-1 start on powerful hits by Alyssa Valdez and Carlos and consecutive errors on the side of the Crossovers.
More miscues by the Crossovers widened the Cool Smashers’ advantage to 10-4 following a service ace from Galanza. After a couple of hits by Chery Tiggo’s Jaja Santiago, Creamline reached the match point on consecutive attacks by Valdez and Julia Morado.
The Crossovers stayed alive at 7-14 following a rare error by Valdez, but she made up for it by dropping the game-winning play to move the Cool Smashers closer to its title-retention bid.
Valdez ended the match with 21 points, all via attack points, to lead the Cool Smashers, which can finish off the Crossovers in Game 2 of the best-of-three championship series tonight.
Meanwhile, Petro Gazz Angels inched closer to clinching the bronze medal after a 25-21, 25-15, 22-25, 25-20 win over Choco Mucho Flying Titans in Game 1 of the battle-for-third place series.
The Angels pounced on a tired Flying Titans with dominant showings from Myla Pablo and Gretchel Soltones in the first two sets. Petro Gazz seemed headed for a sweep, but Choco Mucho erased an 18-14 third-set deficit to extend the match.
The game was tied at 15-all in the fourth set until the Angels pounced on the exit of Flying Titans’ Madeleine Madayag due to a knee injury to pull away and wrapped up the victory behind three straight attacks by Pablo.
Pablo top-scored with 26 points, Soltones added 13 markers, while Frances Xinia Molina and Marivic Meneses have 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Angels, which hopes to clinch the bronze medal in Game 2 this afternoon./PN
