‘Third is better than nothing:’ Creamline salvages bronze in PVL

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Creamline settled for third place after beating Air Force, 18-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-16, in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference Wednesday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Francesca Raqraquin showed the way for the Cool Smashers with 18 points while Rizza Mandapat and Rosemarie Vargas added 11 points each.

The Cool Smashers may not have made the championship round after getting eliminated by BaliPure in the semifinals, but assistant coach Oliver Almadro said the team is still pleased with how its campaign turned out.

“As I’ve said before, I guess it’s not our time to be in the Finals but I’m happy that we ended it in winning fashion,” said Almadro.

“Third is better than nothing. We’re happy with this.”

Creamline drew a throwback performance from Jing Balse, who delivered with 10 points, half of which came off blocks.

“She really played. For me, what we’re getting from Jing is not the power, the strength, but the intensity, the leadership,” Almadro praised.

The Cool Smashers didn’t have their superstar Alyssa Valdez, who missed the team’s last eight games due to her commitments with the national team.

“Bottom line here is Creamline is really a promising team. We miss Alyssa a lot, but we are cheering for her, for national team.”