By MARK REY MONTEJO
Creamline flexed its might and cruised past Nxled, 25-18, 25-18, 25-20, to earn the No. 1 seed in Pool A of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference Thursday, Aug. 8, at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
The Cool Smashers took the tempo early through their depth and firepower, relying on Erica Staunton, Bernadette Pons and mainstay Michelle Gumabao, who created the puzzle which the Chameleons couldn’t solve in three sets.
It was a fitting opening round ender for Creamline as it notched its fourth consecutive win courtesy of a team effort led by Staunton and Pons, who starred with 13 apiece highlighted by the latter’s excellent 14 digs and eight receptions while Michelle Gumabao also shone with 12.
Jhoana Maraguinot topped Nxled’s scoring column in a losing cause just to absorb their fourth loss in five outings.
“Syempre first round palang, mahaba pa naman ‘yong conference and hopefully, mag-improve ‘tong team namin sa second round,” said head coach Sherwin Meneses, who is hoping to continue Creamline’s winning ways.
“Especially sa quarterfinals kasi ko game lahat so thankful kami maganda tinakbo ng first round namin and hopefully magtuloy sa hanggang sa dulo,” he added.
The Cool Smashers, PLDT and Chery Tiggo will challenge the bottom three of Pool B in the crossover round which starts Saturday, Aug. 10.
