Pocari Sweat outlasts Creamline in 5 sets

Pocari Sweat gutted out a tough five-set victory over Creamline, 25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 18-25, 15-11, to nail at least a playoff for a semifinal berth in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference at Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.

The Lady Warriors zoomed to an 8-5 lead in the deciding set after netting six points off the Cool Smashers’ errors, but needed to fend off a furious rally to hack out the crucial victory.

It was Pocari’s second straight win in the short quarterfinal phase among four teams, putting the defending champions closer to joining early semifinalists BaliPure and the Power Smashers in the season-opening conference of the league organized by Sports Vision.

Import Michelle Strizak led the Lady Warriors’ charge with 30 hits, Myla Pablo added 12 markers while Desiree Dadang and Cai Nepomunceno chipped in 11 points apiece.

Alyssa Valdez and imports Kuttika Kaewpin and Lindsay Schaudt moved the Cool Smashers to within 11-13 but the Lady Warriors scored on a kill and took the set and the match with a block off Valdez’s final attack.

The loss dropped Creamline to 1-1 and must hurdle Air Force tomorrow to stay in the semifinal hunt.

Air Force and Perlas, which dropped their opening quarterfinal matches, were still playing at presstime.

Pocari took charge early, posting six-point leads in the opening frame. But Creamline refused to give up and pulled to within one at 23-24, only to yield with a service error from Kuttika Kaewpin.

Faulty serves actually marred the Cool Smashers’ endgame stint with Laura Schaudt and Alex Cabanos making one each in the stretch.

Earlier, Cignal HD foiled Sta. Elena, 25-14, 17-25, 25-19, 25-21, to clinch the No. 2 slot in the semifinals of the men’s tournament.