Even with several stars out, Creamline still same deadly squad

The Cool Smashers celebrate the win on the floor. —PVL IMAGES

Sherwin Meneses saw bright signs all over as Creamline’s newcomers proved that they are deserving of being called Cool Smashers by embracing the championship-winning system with a lot of the team’s stars unavailable in their PVL On Tour debut.

Meneses gave his young recruits an early opportunity, and they didn’t disappoint, as the Cool Smashers pulled off a 25-18, 25-23, 16-25, 25-19 victory over an Nxled side that played sans Brooke Van Sickle on Wednesday night at Capital Arena in Ilagan, Isabela.

Ishie Lalongisip, an outside hitter recruited from defunct Cignal, impressed with nine points in her first game in a Creamline uniform, while rookie setter Donna Paralejas earned the starting nod before veteran Kyle Negrito took over in the latter sets.

Rookie Barbie Jamili and Erin Pangilinan, also an ex-Super Spiker, also got their chances to play and contribute to the Cool Smashers.

“I want them to be competitive because they’re with Creamline now, and the culture here is different,” Meneses said in Filipino. “They’re all hardworking players, and we’re happy that they ended up with Creamline.

“We already talked to them. They’re in the professional league now, so they have to work hard while enjoying the experience of being part of Creamline,” he went on. “That’s the strength of these young players—they’re confident, they’re willing to learn, and they follow instructions. Hopefully, they can continue performing well.”

For Lalongisip, joining Creamline was exciting, coming in after Cignal filed a leave of absence despite its gallant stand against the 11-time champions in the All-Filipino Conference finals.

“I’m really happy…because now, I’m teammates with Jema (Galanza) and the rest of the squad,” Lalongisip said in Filipino. “I’m super excited and really looking forward to everything I’ll learn here with Creamline.”

Creamline opened its preseason campaign without national team standouts Jia De Guzman and Jen Nierva, who are training with Alas Pilipinas for the Asian Games, while Alyssa Valdez, Tots Carlos, Pangs Panaga, and Bea De Leon sat the game out.

Meneses, however, expects the fans to finally see some of his veteran stars in the coming PVL On Tour stops.

“Yes, for sure they’ll be able to play in either the second or third game,” he said. “The On Tour is also for the fans, so we’ll do our best to have them out there and give everyone a good performance.”

Michele Gumabao led the bench scoring with 18 points off 16 kills, one block, and an ace. Lorie Bernardo stepped up as a starter with 13 points, while Jema Galanza had eight points and 13 digs as Creamline won the P100,000 cash prize of the Ilagan stop.

Creamline returns to Isabela on August 8 against Capital1 in Santiago City.

Nxled won’t have Brooke Van Sickle for the whole preseason due to a shoulder injury. New Nxled setter Gel Cayuna’s debut was spoiled despite her 22 excellent sets and three points after she begged off from the Alas call-up.