MANILA – Creamline Cool Smashers leaned on Alyssa Valdez’s clutch hits to score a 12-25, 25-13, 23-25, 30-28, 15-7 victory over F2 Logistics Cargo Movers in the PVL Invitational semifinals on Thursday night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Valdez finished the game with conference-best 17 points, on 16 attacks and a service ace, as the defending champions Cool Smashers moved up to 2-0 in the single-round robin semifinals.
“I missed playing in the semis, it’s been a while,” said Valdez, who had her best game for the Cool Smashers since suffering a knee injury last December. “Honestly, we knew F2 would give us a good fight and we also gave it to them.”
The Cool Smashers went on a strong start in the fourth set as they established a 20-10 lead but the Cargo Movers went on a huge run to force several deadlocks with last at 28-all on an off-the-block hit by Myla Pablo.
Creamline, however, took the set point at 29-28 following a conversion from Celine Domingo before Jessica Galanza fired one from a set by Valdez to send the match to a decider.
The Cool Smashers then went for the kill in the fifth set on consecutive points from Valdez, Domingo, Diana Carlos and Risa Sato as they surged to a 9-1 advantage and never looked back.
Galanza top scored for Creamline with 20 points, Carlos and Domingo added 19 and 16 markers, respectively, while Julia Morado-de Guzman went on to finish with 21 excellent sets and two points.
Pablo finished the contest with 27 markers, while Ivy Lacsina added 13 markers for the 1-1 Cargo Movers, which lost key player Kim Kianna Dy at the onset of the fourth set due to an injury.
Meanwhile, Cignal HD Spikers showed no mercy to sister team PLDT High Speed Hitters as it hacked out a 25-22, 25-15, 25-21 sweep. The HD Spikers improved to 1-1, while the High Speed Hitters dropped to 0-2.
Frances Xinia Molina top-scored with 17 hits while Jovelyn Gonzaga added 11 attack points and ended up with 12 markers and Roselyn Doria came up with three blocks on her way to a 10-point showing./PN
