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MANILA, Philippines — On another national team tour of duty, the Creamline Cool Smashers just knew what it takes to represent the flag and country.
And the 10-time Premier Volleyball League champions exhibited it in a 29-27, 25-20, 25-19 victory over Al Naser to zoom to the top of Pool A in Monday’s start of the AVC Challenge Cup at the PhilSports Arena.
The win pushed Creamline, which is nothing new at competing in international competitions after having been tapped several times to carry the country’s colors years ago, closer to the quarterfinals in this eight-day meet. The tournament gathers the region’s best and brightest club teams.
The proud franchise showed nerves of steel early when they had to edge the Jordanian club champion in a nip and tuck opening set.
When it needed to put away Al Naser in the last two sets, Creamline showed the killer instinct in sealing the straight-set win that set in motion its bid to rule this prestigious tournament.
Erica Staunton shone bright on her return to her old team and unleashed 19 points on 15 kills, while skipper Alyssa Valdez scattered 10 hits herself.
The team’s other two reinforcements, Russian Anastasiya Kudryashova and Kazakh Anastassiya Kolomoyets, were not bad themselves and uncorked nine and eight hits, respectively.
Earlier, Kaohsiung Taipower and Beijing Baic Motor launched their respective campaigns with emphatic straight victories.
The Taiwanese smashed Hong Kong’s Hip Hing, 25-10, 25-16, 25-14, while the Chinese turned back Saipa Tehran, 28-26, 25-22, 25-19, to zoom to the early lead in Pool B and C, respectively. — Joey Villar
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Credit belongs to: www.philstar.com
