THREE OF A KIND
- In a season of absent stars, Creamline’s newest MVPs help assemble historic Grand Slam
It is quite fitting that three of the top individual players who powered Creamline to back-to-back titles in a two-week span also happened to be those who understood what it meant playing behind the Cool Smashers’ galaxy of stars.
In an alternate universe where Alyssa Valdez and Tots Carlos weren’t injured, where Jema Galanza did not have to fulfill national team duties, and where Jia De Guzman stayed home instead of plying her trade in foreign shores, the spotlight wouldn’t have shone so bright on Michele Gumabao, Bernadeth Pons and Kyle Negrito.
Of the three, Negrito perhaps had the most to prove.
She was thrust into the starting setter role when Creamline’s chief playmaker got the opportunity to play in Japan.
And had that chief playmaker been anyone but the astute De Guzman, the pressure wouldn’t have been as heavy for Negrito.
“The boss told me to just ignore it,” Negrito said, referring to Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses.
Look what that got for her: A newfound respect for being one of the Premier Volleyball League’s (PVL) top setters following a stint capped by a Finals MVP trophy.
“I just held on to [the trust] of those with me in the team,” Negrito said after lobbying 25 excellent sets as Creamline completed the league’s first Grand Slam after a nail-biting 21-25, 25-17, 20-25, 26-24, 15-13 win over hard-fighting Cignal in the Invitational Conference Final.
“I just repaid the trust given to me,” who was instrumental in all three titles won by Creamline this season—titles eight, nine and 10 in the franchise’s trophy case. “I’m happy it resulted in this.
Gumabao and Pons, meanwhile, provided the scoring power Creamline lost when three of its top players missed out most of the season.
Alyssa Valdez and Tots Carlos, who have six MVP trophies between them, sat out two conferences due to injuries. Jema Galanza also missed the same amount of time due to her duties with Alas Pilipinas, coming back only for the tailend of the Invitational.
Gumabao, who willingly labored off the bench before, stepped into the starting opposite hitter role and spearheaded the offense in the Invitational.
Fierceness to good vibes
Gumabao, whose La Salle fierceness in college was replaced by Creamline’s good vibes in the pros, was the top local scorer of the tournament and fifth in the league overall with 59 points off 52 kills. She ranked No.2 in spiking with a 37.96 percent success rate and fourth in serving with 0.29 aces per set with four aces.
“I’m happy because I still have [a lot of game in me],” the 32-year-old star said after receiving her first conference MVP award.
Pons, on the other hand, won both the conference and Finals MVP of the Reinforced Conference, where Creamline stopped Akari to move to the doorstep of the trailblazing triple-crown feat.
“It was so fulfilling and I’m happy we won the championship,” Pons said. “Getting both MVP awards was just a bonus because the goal was to contribute, to help my team win the championship.”
Pons tied a neat ribbon on her strong showing in the entire Reinforced conference by piling up 19 points, 13 excellent receptions and 12 digs in a 25-15, 25-23, 25-17 rout of Akari for the championship.
“It wasn’t easy because everything was do-or-die from the quarterfinals to the final and. We almost lost in the semis but we managed to survive,” the 27-year-old outside spiker said.
The Invitational wasn’t any easier.
The team had to face similar challenges and also battled exhaustion after kicking off their bid there just days after winning the Reinforced.
“Coach (Meneses) always tells us that we won’t have easy games because every opponent we face wants. to beat Creamline,” Gumabao said. “And then we had to play right away after the [Reinforced] final … so it wasn’t just a test of skills but also of conditioning and mindset.”
Full force
And the title game proved even tougher.
“We were down two sets to one, but we never lost faith and we never gave up hope,” Gumabao said.
Creamline faced the full force of Cignal’s MJ Perez, who finished with 42 points, the most in a PVL Finals game.
Somehow, though, Negrito found ways to get the Cool Smashers’ going offensively and match Perez’s offensive onslaught.
“I could really feel and hear that my teammates wanted the ball. That they wanted to kill the ball,” Negrito said. “Me, as a setter, my job is to make sure they get the best possible ball.”
The rise of the MVP trio only shows the depth that Creamline has and the reason why the Cool Smashers kept their confidence amid what any other team would have felt as a manpower crisis.
“Everyone knows their role. And we always had our respect for one another and all our sacrifices as things we could hold on to,” Negrito said. “And we never felt that we were lacking [in personnel]. Like the boss always says, ‘there are only seven players [per sequence] so we’re still Creamline.’”
“I think we showed just how much we love what we are doing and how much we love playing with one another,” Gumabao added.
“My teammates are all so committed, all so passionate with work and even in training, we already challenge one another,” Pons said.
It is also telling how Creamline made history where it failed twice before in a season when it missed three of the stars. That only shows how much of a force to be reckoned with the Cool Smashers are.
Imagine the confidence the team will carry when the new season raises its curtains, and the newly minted golden trio of Negrito, Pons and Gumabao reunite with Creamline’s comebacking stars. INQ
Michele Gumabao: Invitationals MVP
