ZUS Coffee’s win became Creamline’s gain.
The Thunderbelles denied Chery Tiggo an outright quarterfinals spot with a 19-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-19, 15-6 comeback to end the 2025 PVL on Tour preliminary round on Tuesday in Candon City.
The result forced a triple-tie at 3-2 among the three teams.
READ: Creamline left to wait as Chery Tiggo zeroes in on quarterfinals
In the end, Creamline won the tiebreak for the No. 2 seed with 10 match points ahead of Chery Tiggo and ZUS Coffee with eight each.
A timely helping hand from the Thunderbelles spared the Cool Smashers from missing an outright PVL playoff spot for the first time in the latter’s decorated eight-year franchise history.
Although out of top two contention, the Thunderbelles have now won its third consecutive five-setter in the four times they went the distance in prelims play.
Both Chery Tiggo and ZUS Coffee will have one last crack at the quarterfinals in the knockout round starting Saturday.
Team captain Cloanne Mondonedo put up 36 excellent sets, the second-highest single-game setting output in the preseason behind Kyle Negrito's 40 for Creamline against Akari.
Cold-brewed win for ZUS
After splitting the first two sets, Cess Robles (18 points) led the Crossovers’ third-set getaway where they had the luxury of a nine-point plateau.
Having played three five-set matches prior, the Thunderbelles didn’t mind playing one more tiebreak through rookie hitter AC Miner, who had a game-high 19-piece.
It was all ZUS Coffee in Set 5 once it built a 10-4 lead through Chinnie Arroyo, who hit three straight attacks midway through a pivotal stretch. She had 11 points total.
The Thunderbelles fired four unanswered points to end the match and complete a five-set comeback.
Errors also proved to be decisive as ZUS Coffee kept it clean with just 12 faults in the five-set contest against Chery Tiggo’s 29.
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