Nxled and Creamline, with rich championship cores, face survival test
Last year’s PVL All-Filipino finalists, Creamline and the core of the team that won it all, now play for Nxled, are in unfamiliar territory this season as they fight to live another day against dangerous foes in the last stage of the Play-In on Tuesday at Filoil Centre in San Juan City.
After playing in an epic three-game title series last year, when Brooke Van Sickle and the Angels delivered the first AFC title for the Petro Gazz franchise, which also ended Creamline’s reign, the three-time league MVP and her teammates are looking to continue their dominance with the Chameleons.
Nxled became the new home of the Petro Gazz core after the club took a celebrated leave of absence ahead of the season.
And now, Van Sickle and the rest of that core hope to repay that trust by sending the franchise to its first-ever PVL semifinals, as the Chameleons face their former Petro Gazz coach, Koji Tsuzurabara, who now steers the Farm Fresh Foxies, in a knockout game at 4 p.m.
Tough duel
Creamline, meanwhile, faces a club that has had some recent success over the Cool Smashers in Akari at 6:30 p.m., with the survivors of both games joining PLDT and Cignal in the semifinals.
As the core of Petro Gazz takes on its former mentor, Van Sickle braces for a tough duel as they all remember how their first match of the conference, which was against the Foxies, reached five sets before Nxled carved out a win.
“Farm Fresh, they’re doing really awesome. They’re firing at all cylinders on every single game,” said Van Sickle after scoring 14 points in a 25-23, 25-18, 25-23 win over Galeries Tower before the Holy Week break. “All their hitters are doing very well, so I think they’re going to be a very tough rematch for us.
“I expect them to be coming out firing and I’m expecting it to be a long game, so I’m really excited to play good volleyball.”
Nxled coach Ettore Guidetti will continue to bank on Van Sickle, MJ Phillips, Myla Pablo, Jonah Sabete, Ranya Musa, rookie setter Jules Tolentino and libero Bang Pineda, who led Petro Gazz to two titles last year, including the Reinforced Conference.
Tsuzurabara will call on the lethal trio of Trisha Tubu, Ces Molina and Royse Tubino as he looks to use his familiarity against his ex-players as a tool to forge an upset.
Creamline also hopes to avoid elimination after Alyssa Valdez’s vintage showing of 18 points, 20 excellent receptions and 19 digs wasn’t enough after losing the qualifying game against Cignal, 25-21, 24-26, 18-25, 25-22, 17-15.
“We’re using this as motivation to improve and strengthen our team chemistry,” the Creamline captain said. “Our mindset now is to review our mistakes, correct them, learn from them and move forward to the next game.”
Valdez and the rest of the star-studded squad that includes Bernadeth Pons, Jia De Guzman, Tots Carlos, Pangs Panaga and Bea De Leon, are keen on avoiding another early exit like in last year’s Reinforced Conference, where they lost to eventual champion Petro Gazz in the quarterfinals.
But they will be facing an Akari side that beat them in their last two meetings and recently took down their sister team and fan favorite Choco Mucho in the first stage of the Play-In, 25-15, 23-25, 25-16, 15-25, 21-19.
