A true dynasty
Creamline came roaring back from a set down on Sunday night, carving out a 20-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 15-11 victory over Choco Mucho to sweep the PVL All-Filipino Conference title series and extend its dynastic reign in the centerpiece event before a virtual sea of humanity at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Jema Galanza was at the firing end of the relentless Creamline offense as the Cool Smashers pulled this one out of the fire to win their eighth title cheered on by a throng that numbered more than 23,000 which stayed on for the marathon match.
“We will extend it,” Galanza said in addressing the crowd when asked how she felt about Creamline adding another title to its growing collection. “We will win a ninth, a 10th and an 11th (title).”
This is probably the toughest title that Creamline won, as the squad lost key players to leagues overseas and battled some injuries.
“I just saw in the eyes of my teammates that they really wanted this bad,” Galanza said. “There are a lot of [negative] things that happened to us this season. And now that we have a chance to win (another title), we just took it.”
Galanza went on to finish with 20 attack points, battling Sisi Rondina tooth and nail as the Flying Titans showed that they really deserved to play in the best-of-three series.
Rondina finished with 31 points built on 28 attacks.
Chery Tiggo needed some time to go on all cylinders earlier before snapping a long spell and clip Petro Gazz, 16-25, 11-25, 25-13, 25-22, 18-16, in Game 2 of their separate series for the bronze.
With his starters not being able to figure out the Angels, coach KungFu Reyes did some brilliant shuffling of his personnel that rallied Chery Tiggo, which, despite the win that snapped a four-game spell, settled for fourth spot after the tiebreak was applied.
“We needed to take a chance giving our second unit playing time,” Reyes said in Filipino. “The good thing is that they moved very well and we’re thankful that at least they performed well and our main gunners were able to rely on them.”
The only chance for the Crossovers to win the bronze was if they were to play and win Game 3, which Creamline scratched because of the win in the nightcap.
Petro Gazz had a points ratio of 1.126 compared to the Crossovers’ 0.888.
Eya Laure and setter Jasmine Nabor switched roles in one crucial play to bail Chery Tiggo out as the battle for the bronze proved as exciting as the one for the championship with both games going five sets.
Laure finished with 26 points to lead Chery Tiggo.
