Creamline Cool Smashers’ Kyle Negrito receive the Finals MVP award after winning the PVL Invitational Conference championship. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — The Creamline Cool Smashers turned emotional after Kyle Negrito was named as the Final MVP of the 2024 PVL Invitational Conference with their playmaker ending all doubts about her capabilities of leading the team.
Negrito emerged as the MVP of the championship in front of her family after dishing out 25 excellent sets in Creamline’s nail-biting 21-25, 25-17, 20-25, 26-24, 15-13 win over the hard-fighting Cignal to complete the league’s first-ever grand slam and team’s 10th overall title on Thursday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
It was a vindication for Negrito, who led Creamline to three titles this year despite the absence of Jia De Guzman, who is already playing in Japan with the Denso AiryBees.
“Bossing said to just ignore it,” Negrito said, talking about her coach Sherwin Meneses. “I really rely on my teammates. I just try to give back the trust they give me. I’m happy it’s paying off.”
“Our main focus in these conferences is to become champions because that’s our goal. Getting an award like this is just a bonus,” she added.
Negrito won her second Best Setter award after a masterful showing as the second-top playmaker with 5.29 excellent sets per frame. She was the top server with 12 aces and averaging 0.86 aces per set no.2 setter, top eight blocker with four blocks and an average of 0.29 per set to finish as the No.19 scorer with 22 points.
The Far Eastern University product never gave up even though they trailed, 1-2 to Cignal, which pushed them to their limits through MJ Perez’s finals record-setting 42 points.
“You can really feel all of them want to ask for the ball, all of them want to score,” Negrito said. “As the setter, it’s my job to do what I can and give them the best pass I can, then it’s up to them.”
“Each of us know our role, and we all do our part. The respect we have for one another, as well as for each other’s sacrifices and hard work, is what we held onto this season. We’re happy that it’s enough. Like bossing said, only seven players are on the court at a time, and it’s still Creamline out there.”
More than her two individual awards, Negrito is fulfilled to win two titles in two weeks and complete a rare grand slam feat that they didn’t achieve in the past two seasons and didn’t expect to get this year.