Creamline, BanKo-Perlas try to forge finals date

Powerhouse Creamline and a fired-up BanKo-Perlas need one more win to get to the Finals of the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference.

But neither of them are expecting PetroGazz and Motolite-Ateneo to hand those berths to them on a silver platter on Saturday.

The Cool Smashers will have to come up with an even sharper game than the one they flaunted against the Angels in a 26-28, 25-15, 25-13, 25-16 victory in the opener of their best-of-three series last Wednesday that gave them a twice-to-beat cushion for a finals slot.

“We have to lessen our mistakes and work on our service and blocking,” said Jema Galanza, who fired 24 points and capped her sterling performance on her 22nd birthday with 18 excellent receptions.

Game 2 is at 4 p.m. after the 2 p.m. clash between the Perlas Spikers and the Lady Eagles. BanKo-Perlas has had Motolite-Ateneo’s number this conference, beating them thrice already.

But the Lady Eagles’ fight-back from a 0-2 set deficit should worry the Perlas Spikers.

“We were able to execute our game plan in the first two sets but lost our focus in the next two,” said BanKo-Perlas coach Dong dela Cruz. “First and foremost, you can’t give teams like Ateneo a chance to mount a comeback.”

“But it’s a good thing that we were able to regain our bearing in the fifth set. It’s a good sign for us moving forward to recover from two set defeats,” he added.