CREAMLINE reinforced its claim as the greatest volleyball team in the land upon completing its third conference sweep in the 2023 PVL All-Filipino Conference at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.
Facing a tough challenge from sister team Choco Mucho, the Cool Smashers leaned on Alyssa Valdez to deliver the last two finishing kills in the fifth set to hoist the title, 22-25, 25-20, 29-27, 24-26, 15-12.
READ: Sisi Rondina named MVP for role in Choco Mucho's run to first-ever PVL Finals
Creamline, now a seven-time champion, won all its 15 matches in the conference, the third time it pulled off the trick.
The Cool Smashers also won all 20 matches in the 2019 Open Conference and eight in the 2022 Open Conference.
A Philippine volleyball record crowd of 24,459, including tennis superstar Alex Eala, showed up for Game 2 and were treated to a hard-fought marathon match that ended deep into the night.
Choco Mucho entered the game a huge underdog, having survived multiple do-or-die matches to get to the finals.
The Flying Titans, needing a victory to extend it to Game 3, came out hot behind Sisi Rondina’s heroics to take the first set.
Rondina, who was named conference MVP, finished the game with a PVL Finals record 33 points.
Tots Carlos and Jema Galanza , however, led Creamline’s fightback in the next two sets, including a wiry third set at 29-27.
Choco Mucho, however, was far from finished as a Rondina-led offense saw the Flying Titans rule another tight contest in the fourth frame, 26-24, to set up a decisive fifth-set tiebreak.
Carlos, who led Creamline with 26 points, won her first Finals MVP title, becoming the fourth Cool Smasher to do so after Jia de Guzman, Valdez and Ced Domingo.
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