Creamline faces Farm Fresh with top 4 in sight
Creamline gets another chance to secure a qualifying-round berth when it faces Farm Fresh on Tuesday as the race for the final two Top Four spots intensifies in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference.
The Cool Smashers battle the Foxies at 6:30 p.m. at the Santa Rosa Sports Complex in Laguna as the preliminary round enters its final stretch.
Creamline appeared poised to advance comfortably before a surging Akari squad halted its momentum last Thursday, handing the Cool Smashers a four-set defeat that dropped them to 5-2 and tightened the race for the remaining qualifying slots.
PLDT and Cignal have already secured their places in the next phase, leaving Creamline, Nxled, Akari and Farm Fresh scrambling for the last two spots.
Nxled currently holds fourth place with a 4-4 record but has only one match left. Akari is close behind at 4-3, while Farm Fresh remains in contention at 3-4 with two games still to play.
Creamline will also face Cignal on Saturday to close out its preliminary schedule in the season-ending conference organized by Sports Vision.
The teams ranked from fifth to 10th after the preliminaries will drop to the Play-In stage, where they will be divided into two groups. The group winners will then face the losers of the Top Four crossover matches for the last two semifinal spots.
Despite the setback against Akari, Creamline remains confident it can bounce back and avoid the complications of the Play-In round.
Jema Galanza and Tots Carlos continue to spearhead the Cool Smashers’ attack, but the 10-time champions will also need steady contributions from Bernadeth Pons, Michele Gumabao, Pangs Panaga and Bea De Leon.
Farm Fresh, however, enters the match with momentum after a gritty five-set win over Choco Mucho kept its Top Four hopes alive.
The Foxies will rely on Trisha Tubu, the conference’s second-leading scorer, with setter Alohi Robins-Hardy orchestrating the offense.
Meanwhile, Akari aims to extend its turnaround when it faces struggling Galerie Tower in the 4 p.m. opener.
After losing its first three matches, the Chargers have won four straight to reenter the qualifying race.
“For us, we remain humble. We go back to the basics,” Akari coach Tina Salak said. “If we’re tired, we rest, recover properly and find the right inspiration, nutrition and recovery.”
Salak said the team remains focused on continuing the approach that fueled its winning streak.
“We just keep working. Nothing new, just keep going. If this is what works for us, we continue. We see the light,” she said.
Akari has leaned on the resurgence of Ivy Lacsina, the steady scoring of Grethcel Soltones and Eli Soyud, and the net presence of middle blockers Fifi Sharma and Ced Domingo. Mars Alba directs the offense while Justine Jazareno anchors the floor defense.
Galerie Tower, meanwhile, enters the match on a three-game losing skid after an earlier upset of Nxled.
