CREAMLINE kept its cool in the face of a furious Chery Tiggo charge, 25-20, 24-26, 25-16, 25-19, to secure back-to-back Pool A wins in the 2024 PVL Reinforced Conference on Tuesday at the Philsports Arena.
Bernadeth Pons put together a stellar double-double of 25 attack points and 23 receptions in her new role as one of Creamline’s starting spikers in the absence of key players Alyssa Valdez, Tots Carlos and Jema Galanza.
The Cool Smashers improved to 2-1 and avoided matching the franchise's worst start to a PVL campaign of 1-2 which they did back in their league debut in the 2017 Reinforced Conference. Creamline finished third in that tournament.
“Personally, 'yung last game ko (naging motivation ko today) kasi medyo disappointed ako sa sarili ko, sa performance ko (versus Farm Fresh) kasi alam ko na mas may ibibigay pa 'ko, mas kaya ko pang mag-contribute sa team,” said Pons after her best scoring output in the PVL to date.
"So 'yun din talaga 'yung isa sa motivation ko coming into this game."
Creamline head coach Sherwin Meneses added: “‘Yung momentum, napupunta na sa Creamline dahil naka-two straight (wins) kami. Sana magsunod-sunod ‘yung panalo namin para maging maganda ‘yung standing namin pagdating (sa next round) sa kabilang bracket.
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It was a near-perfect showing across the board for Creamline as American import Erica Staunton (21 points) and Michele Gumabao (17 points) continued to cover the scoring front, all set up by the 27 excellent sets from Kyle Negrito.
Creamline’s libero duo Denden Lazaro-Revilla (13 receptions) and Kyla Atienza (10 digs) had just enough in the tank to push Chery Tiggo’s red-hot import Khat Bell to the limit, who had a game-best 31 markers in their first loss of the conference.
Helping the Cool Smashers’ cause was limiting their unforced errors to just 15 in the two-hour, 15-minute contest.
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