Creamline and PetroGazz stepped on the verge of another title showdown on Saturday night after downing their respective opponents at the start of the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference semifinals.
Games 1 of the twin best-of-three semis series offered few surprises at Filoil Flying V Centre.
Creamline, the dominant force this conference with a 17-game winning run, overcame a first set jolt before downing Motolite, 18-25, 25-14, 25-21, 25-14.
Later in the evening, PetroGazz handled BanKo Perlas quite easily, 25-22, 25-15, 25-20, to defy all preseries hype that this side of the Final Four would be tight.
The Cool Smashers and the Angels can barge into the championship with victories on Sunday.
The Motolite Spikers caught the Cool Smashers flat-footed in the first set, as the return of stars Alyssa Valdez and Jia Morado somehow threw Creamline out of synch for a while.
Motolite just couldn’t stop Creamline once it got going in the second set.
Valdez and Morado rejoined Creamline for the semis, leaving behind the national team training camp in Japan.
It was only Creamline’s fifth set defeat in the conference.
Valdez lauded her teammates for stepping up in their absence.
“This is already the semis, and it’s very different because the mind-set here is to be the first to win two games,” said Valdez, who accounted for 17 points.
“We’re happy with the win,” said Valdez, who also added 16 digs. “The goal of the team is really to get Game 1 so we would be playing with a lot more confidence in the next match.”
“We’re happy that we’re all back together,” she added.
Michele Gumabao had 13 and Pau Soriano 11 to help bolster the Cool Smashers.
Chie Saet deftly handled the Angels’ offensive plays, tossing in 18 excellent sets aside from scoring three points in the surprisingly lopsided match.
The Angels are on a roll with four straight victories going into Game 2.