ZUS Coffee brewed a major 25-27, 25-17, 25-20, 25-22 upset of Creamline to stay perfect in the 2025 PVL Reinforced Conference on Thursday at the Playtime Filoil Centre.
At the center of it all was American winger Anna DeBeer who had her second 30-piece of the conference with 37 points.
For the first time ever, Frank Lao-backed teams in ZUS Coffee and Farm Fresh share the league lead at 3-0, the last two unbeaten sides in the group stage.
Bar a late first-set blunder where it fell on the wrong end of a 7-2 set-clinching tear, it was a methodical win for the streaking Thunderbelles that had DeBeer manning the ship whenever the Cool Smashers were on the cusp of repeating one of their signature comebacks.
"Ngayon, meron kaming sasandalan kaya ‘yung kumpyansa nabi-build at ‘yung skills lumalabas kapag meron kang teammate na ganyan. Everybody is stepping up, especially Anna," said head coach Jerry Yee.
"Obviously, Creamline is so good, [so] it was nice to have everybody step up in different moments and obviously making adjustments from what they were doing. They were making adjustments, so it really pushed us to be the best version of ourselves," deBeer added.
AC Miner led the Thunderbelles' local core with 13 points built on seven attacks, five blocks, and one ace, ahead of fellow middle blocker Riza Nogales' seven markers.
Jovelyn Gonzaga was limited to six points, but guarded the floor with all her might, as she put up a 12-dig, 12-reception defensive double-double.
Creamline melts down
It was still the Creamline's usual suspects who held down the fort in its second loss of the conference.
Team captain Alyssa Valdez chalked up 13 points and 11 receptions behind DeBeer's Major League Volleyball (MLV) title rival Courtney Schwan's 18 points and 11 digs.
Tots Carlos and Pangs Panaga then churned out 11 markers apiece, as Michele Gumabao chipped in 10.
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