Creamline Cool Smashers escaped a gallant stand put up by Chery Tiggo as the powerhouse club eked out a 25-14, 25-20, 21-25, 28-26 victory to clinch a semifinals spot in the 2022 PVL Invitational Conference on Thursday.
The Open Conference champions improved to 4-1 to forge a two-way tie at the top spot with heavyweight Cignal while Chery Tiggo formally bowed out of contention with a 1-5 slate.
The Cool Smashers had a rousing start as they built a two-set lead, but the wards of head coach Sherwin Meneses lost some steam late in the third as the Crossovers staged a comeback.
Chery Tiggo led by as many as four, 17-13, after Tots Carlos committed an attack fault. Another back-to-back error from Creamline brought the Crossovers ahead with the set point, 24-20.
Red-hot Mylene Paat then sent the game to fourth set with an attack from the opposite side, 25-21.
Chery Tiggo continued to put up a fight in the final set as two consecutive points from their side tied things up at 24-all before the scoreline was again knotted at 26 with a Cza Carandang hammer.
Jema Galanza went for a down-the-line hit for the match point before Jia Moredo put the icing on the cake with an ace, 28-26, as Creamline got its ticket to the next phase.
Galanza top-scored Creamline with 23 points to go along with seven excellent receptions while Carlos exploded for 20 markers and 14 digs. Valdez finished with a double-double of 16 points and 13 digs.
Paat, meanwhile, had 15 markers and six digs but those were not enough as Chery Tiggo wrapped up its campaign dead-last.
