The Creamline Cool Smashers secured their spot in the Premier Volleyball League Invitational finals with a 25-23, 25-23, 25-17 victory over Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh of Vietnam in the semifinals on Tuesday night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
The defending champions, the Cool Smashers, with a 4-0 win-loss record, have secured a finals slot, irrespective of the outcome of their final game against Kurashiki Ablaze of Japan on Friday night.
Julia Morado-de Guzman, who was hailed as the Player of the Game with 17 excellent sets, acknowledged that there were some struggles in the first two sets as it was the Cool Smashers’ first time encountering a team from Vietnam.
“It’s our first time to go up against a team from Vietnam, so the first two (sets) were adjustment sets, like getting to know their spikers and attackers,” said Morado-de Guzman.
“We are happy to be able to clinch a finals seat, but the job isn’t done yet. We still have to train and prepare since we still don’t know which team we will be facing (in the finals),” she added.
Diana Carlos was the top scorer for Creamline with 16 points, including 14 on attacks. Alyssa Valdez and Jessica Galanza contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Celine Domingo dominated the middle with four blocks, adding eight points to the team’s total.
“The players responded sa mga pinagagawa namin kaya nasa finals kami. Pero di pa tapos ang goal, hopefully makuha namin kaya kailangan pang pag-trabahuan,” said Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses.
Nguyen Huong led the Vietnamese team with 19 points, while Le Xuan contributed 10 points and Nguyen Oanh scored eight points before being carried off the court. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese team bowed out of the finals with their third straight loss.
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