Creamline momentarily lost control in the second set before cruising in the next two to outlast PayMaya, 25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 25-19, and move a victory away from the Premier Volleyball League crown at a jam-packed Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on Sunday night.
Alyssa Valdez anchored Creamline’s big windup, delivering three of her team’s last four points as the top seeded Cool Smashers cut the High Flyers down to size to close in on the coveted Reinforced Conference crown after two third place finishes last year.
They go for the clincher in Game 2 of the best-of-three title series on Wednesday, also at MoA Arena.
The Cool Smashers banked on their superb net defense in the opening set, coming through with seven blocks, but yielded the next in the face of the High Flyers’ big bounce back.
Creamline wrested control in the third then pounced on a series of PayMaya miscues in the fourth, including attack errors, net violations and four touches, to fashion out the four-set romp.
Valdez finished with 18 hits while Thai import Kuttika Kaewpin topscored with 19 points.
Michele Gumabao backed them up with eight markers.
Earlier, Pocari-Air Force bucked the absence of local ace Myla Pablo to turn back BanKo-Perlas, 25-22, 17-25, 16-25, 26-24, 15-11, to zero in on third place honors.
Maddie Palmer unloaded 22 attack points, the last three giving the Lady Warriors a 12-9 cushion in the fifth before Arie Love took over with back-to-back hits and Elaine Kasilag finished off the rallying Perlas Spikers with a dump at the start of their best-of-three series.
Palmer also delivered two aces for a 24-hit output while Love and a slew of locals also stepped up for the dethroned champions.
Pablo sustained an injury on Friday before the start of their sudden-death match for the first finals berth against Creamline.
But the Lady Warriors still lived up to their name, fighting back from 1-2 set down and recovering from a late fourth-set meltdown before holding sway in the fifth to steal the victory from the Spikers.
“We’re disappointed of not being able to make it to the finals but we stayed focused,” said Palmer.
Pocari nearly blew a 24-21 edge in the fourth as BanKo-Perlas, with Kia Bright on the attack, scored three straight points to extend the match.
But an Amy Ahomiro service error and a Del Palomata quick hit sent the match into a deciding fifth.