Hurting and all, Alyssa Valdez still found a way to bail out Creamline on Saturday night at the start of the quarterfinals of Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
The former Ateneo star stood at the forefront of the Cool Smashers’ strong finish as Creamline outlasted Perlas, 25-16, 9-25, 17-25, 25-13, 15-13 for a share of the lead with Pocari Sweat in the single-round quarterfinals.
Nursing a minor ankle injury, Valdez delivered back-to-back kills to break the 13-all count in the decider and ultimately rescued the Cool Smashers, who gave the Perlas Spikers a lifeline with errors late in the deciding frame.
Valdez finished with 21 hits, while Thai reinforcement Kuttika Kaewpin scattered 19 points.
Creamline’s other import, Laura Schaudt, had four block points and finished with eight points.
Perlas took a 2-1 lead behind Rupia Inck and Katherine Bersola’s steady play, but the challenge fizzled out as soon as Valdez took over in the deciding set.
The Lady Warriors opened their quarterfinal bid with a scrambling 21-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-14, 15-10, victory over the Air Force Jet Spikers.
Pocari and Creamline clash on Tuesday with the winner virtually clinching the third seed in the semifinals. Perlas and Air Force collide for the right to stay alive in the race for a Top Four place.
BaliPure and the Power Smashers already qualified for the semifinals after topping the double round elimination.
ITC woes
Meanwhile, the league and Pocari Sweat Sunday called on the Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas, Inc., to act on its request for the ITC (International Transfer Certificate) of its import replacement as the Lady Warriors fight for one of the last two semifinal berths.
Pocari team manager Eric Ty said Krystal Rivers is set to take over Edina Selimovic, who is out for the rest of the season with a hamstring tear. But Rivers cannot play without an ITC.
“Our new import is here but to the person withholding access to our team’s FIVB account, please act with decency and register our import,” said Pocari team manager Eric Ty.
The same ITC problems forced the league to play all Filipino majority of the elimination round.
“I am really dismayed with LVPI and how it has been handling the ITC problems,” said Ricky Palou, president of the organizing Sports Vision. “The Premier Volleyball League has been encountering these problems the last three years. It just shows the weakness of the LVPI leadership.”