The Creamline Cool Smashers bucked early struggles in unfamiliar territory before eventually rolling to a sweep of the Cignal HD Spikers, 25-20, 25-20, 25-16, at the jampacked Batangas City Coliseum on Saturday, October 21.
Michele Gumabao continued her stellar start in the early goings of the conference with a game-high 20 points off 19 attacks and 1 block in just three sets, while Tots Carlos and Pangs Panaga added 10 and 7 points, respectively, in the defending All-Filipino Conference champions’ second straight win.
Cignal looked on its way towards a second-set equalizer as it led, 15-12, after a Vanie Gandler hit. Creamline, however, responded with a pivotal 8-0 barrage, ending with a Panaga ace and a Jovelyn Gonzaga attack error for the 20-15 lead.
The HD Spikers only got within 3, 19-22, before Batangueña superstar Alyssa Valdez sealed the two-set lead with 2 attack points, including the finishing cross-court kill, in the Cool Smashers’ last 3-1 spurt. The three-time MVP ultimately finished with 3 points in that brief second-set appearance.
That momentum swing was all the Cool Smashers needed to pull away in the third, as they turned an 8-7 lead to a 14-7 gap off a 6-0 spark, capped by a Panaga block on Gandler that Cignal never recovered from.
“I think we had a really great game because everyone contributed,” said Creamline head coach Sherwin Meneses in Filipino. “We’ll watch the game again first, but I think we really had a great game, especially knowing Cignal is a strong team.”
Newly crowned Invitational Conference MVP Ces Molina paced Cignal’s first loss after an opening-day win with 17 big points off 15 attacks, while Gandler and the debuting Gonzaga scored 6 apiece.
Meanwhile, Petro Gazz rolled to its second straight win in nearly record-setting fashion, as the Angels pummeled the upstart Gerflor Defenders, 25-11, 25-4, 25-23, to rise to a 2-0 record and a share of first place with Chery Tiggo and Creamline.
The perennial contenders’ second-set win, featuring a 15-2 start, was one point shy of tying Creamline’s PVL record 25-3 whipping of defunct BaliPure on the way to a sweep win back in the 2021 All-Filipino bubble conference.
Djanel Cheng paced the offense with 11 excellent sets, as reserves Nicole Tiamzon and Marian Buitre tallied a pair of game-high 8-point outings in the balanced attack. Former MVP Grethcel Soltones, meanwhile, added 7 points, 14 excellent digs, and 5 excellent receptions.
Gerflor, which only tallied 3 excellent sets out of 77 in the sorry loss to drop to a 0-2 slate, got its offense mainly from Shang Berte and Menchie Tubiera, who chipped in 6 and 5 points, respectively.