THE Creamline Cool Smashers, led by the irrepressible Alyssa Valdez, barely missed the championship round of the Philippine Volleyball League Open Conference just a few weeks ago. This was most evident when the Cool Smashers prevailed over PVL Open Conference runner-up Bali Pure Water Defenders in four hard-fought sets (25-19, 28-30, 25-19, 31-29) last Wednesday to grab a share of the lead. Morado unloaded a season-best 71 excellent sets thanks in large part to the excellent defense of Nunag who had 31 digs. With newcomers Morado, Nunag, Rosemarie Vargas and Rizza Mandapat, the Cool Smashers appear to have completed the pieces needed to make Creamline a worthy title contender in the league backed by Mikasa and Asics. But the win didn’t come easy for the Cool Smashers, composed of former collegiate stars who needed to recover and regroup to frustrate their youthful rivals bracing for the UAAP.

Source: The Standard July 08, 2017 11:37 UTC