ART OF RECOVERY
Creamline got the wake-up call it needed against lightly regarded Nxled on Thursday as the Cool Smashers bounced back from an unlikely first set stumble to prime themselves up for their final push for a quarterfinal berth in the PVL Reinforced Conference at the FilOil EcoOil Center in San Juan.
The Cool Smashers yielded just 47 points in the last three sets to pull out a 20-25, 25-13, 25-16, 25-18 win over the Chameleons, rising to 4-2 in the second phase of the preliminary round as they gear up for clashes against Choco Mucho and Cignal in a bid to advance safely.
“We were able to adjust quickly after a shaky start,” said Michele Gumabao, the Best Player of the Game who scattered 13 points. “The composure was there, the instructions from our coaches were clear and we executed well.”
Creamline will have more than a week to find out what went wrong in that first set before they take on the Flying Titans on Nov. 13 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and then the Super Spikers at the Ynares in Rodriguez, Rizal, five days later.
“We’ll use this period to rest, recover, and regroup,” said Gumabao, who spiked her contribution with two blocks and two aces in helping eliminate the Chameleons with a sixth straight defeat.
Coach Sherwin Meneses, meanwhile, knows exactly what needs to be done moving forward.
“What we need to address are our errors and maybe some miscommunication in the first set,” he said. “We’re happy that we were able to recover.”
Storming ahead to a commanding 22-12 lead in the fourth set, the Cool Smashers suddenly found themselves under slight pressure as the Chameleons, led by import Paola Martinez, strung together five straight points to trim the deficit to five.
However, a service error by Jaja Maraguinot halted the Chameleons’ rally and the Cool Smashers sealed the one-hour, 44-minute victory through a Coco Schwan through-the-block hit followed by a Martinez attack error.
Schwan finished with 14 points, while Pangs Panaga and Tots Carlos contributed 12 and 11, respectively. Despite Martinez’s 18 markers, Chiara Permentilla’s 14 and the combined 24-point output from Lyann de Guzman, Krich Macaslang, Jeycel delos Reyes and Maraguinot, the Chameleons could only match Creamline’s 48 attack points.
Creamline, however, asserted its superiority in other scoring departments, dominating in blocks (10-6) and service aces (10-5). The real difference lay in the Cool Smashers’ ability to capitalize on their opponents’ errors, converting 27 points off Nxled’s miscues while yielding only 13.
Schwan also anchored the team’s defense, tallying 14 excellent digs and 15 receptions to cap another stellar all-around performance as the Cool Smashers’ experience and chemistry–honed by years of title runs and pressure matches–allowed them to recover from the poor start.
