Alyssa Valdez came up with clutch hits as Creamline Cool Smashers scored a come-from-behind 12-25, 25-13, 23-25, 30-28, and 15-7 victory over F2 Logistics Cargo Movers in the PVL Invitational semifinals on Thursday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
The former Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles star tallied a conference-best 17 points on 16 attacks and a service ace as the defending champions, the Cool Smashers, moved up to 2-0 in the single-round robin semifinals.
The Cool Smashers went on a strong start in the fourth set as they established a 20-10 lead, but the Cargo Movers went on a huge run to force several deadlocks, with the last at 28-all on an off-the-block hit by Myla Pablo.
Creamline, however, took the set point at 29-28 following a conversion from Celine Domingo before Jessica Galanza fired one from a set by Valdez to send the match to a decider.
The Cool Smashers then went for the kill in the fifth set behind Valdez, Domingo, Diana Carlos, and Risa Sato as they surged to a 9-1 advantage and never looked back.
The Cargo Movers, which lost star Kim Kianna Dy early in the fourth frame, dropped to 1-1 with the loss.
