CREAMLINE reached the 2023 PVL All-Filipino Conference finals unbeaten after a 26-24, 25-21, 25-21 win over Chery Tiggo on Saturday night.
Through Kyle Negrito’s 18 excellent sets and Tots Carlos’ game-high 19 points, the Cool Smashers earned a shot at back-to-back All-Filipino championships and a seventh league title overall.
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“Actually, (I’m) speechless kasi we’ve been through a lot without Ate Jia (De Guzman) and Celine (Domingo) na siyempre key players. We’re really happy we’re here na ‘yung collective effort ng team, maganda kinalabasan," said Carlos.
“We’re just happy na si Kyle (Negrito), nag-step-up din sa game and she knows what to do. Masaya lang kami kasi pasok na kami sa finals but siyempre, hindi pa ‘yun du’n nagtatapos — one game at a time, one point at a time.”
While Negrito did admit to dealing with pre-game jitters before the game, she was nonetheless unassailable at the forefront of Creamline’s well-versed team display.
“Nagsabi nga ako kanina before game na kinakabahan ako. Pero ‘yun nga, normal lang naman talaga kabahan,” said Negrito. “Sabi nga ni Coach (Sherwin Meneses), ‘walang maliligaw’ at ‘focus lang.’”
A difficult night for Eya Laure, who was held to just five points as she was playing under the weather, and a rare scoreless outing from Mylene Paat made a tough task much trickier for a Crossovers side that needed two straight wins to end Creamline's All-Filipino reign.
But ultimately, the Cool Smashers' title-winning pedigree sans longtime aces De Guzman and Domingo shone through after pulling off back-to-back semis sweeps on top of its perfect 13-game run thus far in the season-ending conference.
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