‘Sister’ duels highlight semis chase
Creamline and Choco Mucho seek to regain their winning ways and strengthen their semifinal bids when the sister teams clash in the PVL All-Filipino Conference on Thursday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Cool Smashers and Flying Titans, two of the league’s biggest crowd draws, collide at 6 p.m. in another highly anticipated showdown between teams that packed venues during their 2023 and 2024 finals meetings.
Unbeaten Nxled (5-0), meanwhile, guns for the first semifinal berth against sister team Akari at 1 p.m., followed by the Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference match between Far Eastern University-DN Steel and Armed Forces of the Philippines at 3:30 p.m.
Creamline hopes to recover from its first defeat after PLDT snapped its four-game winning streak, 25-19, 25-27, 25-23, 25-23, in the previous week.
Coach Sherwin Meneses warned his Cool Smashers against taking Choco Mucho lightly despite its recent struggles.
“Choco Mucho may be struggling a bit right now, but they’re still a very strong team and are well-trained under Coach Dante,” Meneses told the Inquirer. “They can dominate any team at any time, so we can’t afford to be careless again, just like what happened in our last game against PLDT.”
“We have to make sure we take care of the basics, especially our service reception,” he added.
Choco Mucho won three of its first four games behind Eya Laure and the returning Sisi Rondina-Rosales before suffering consecutive defeats, including a heartbreaking five-set loss to Akari on Saturday.
The Flying Titans slipped into a three-way tie for fourth with Akari and PLDT at 3-3, leaving little room for error in the race for four semifinal berths.
The top two teams will earn twice-to-beat advantages.
Meneses wants his veteran-laden squad, led by Alyssa Valdez, Tots Carlos, Bernadeth Pons and Jia De Guzman, to rediscover its familiar form.
“We’re going back to the Creamline way,” Meneses said. “We fight for every point and stay ready for every situation. If we perform better in our games, the results will follow.”
Choco Mucho middle blocker Maddie Madayag acknowledged the urgency after the Flying Titans squandered another opportunity against Akari.
