Still seeking chemistry, Cool Smashers good enough to cream Flying Titans
Creamline flashed championship poise to bag a first win in the 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference, and it was a very sweet one as it came at the expense of sister team Choco Mucho, 27-25, 17-25, 25-21, 25-15, on Tuesday night before 12,600 fans at Mall of Asia Arena.
The Cool Smashers had started their redemption tour with a tough straight-set loss to PLDT, but came out with vengeance and overcame the tandem of Sisi Rondina and Eya Laure to improve to a 1-1 record and get their 19th win in 20 storied, crowd-drawing meetings against the Flying Titans.
And like he has always been—despite a very successful history of steering the Cool Smashers to seven of their 10 titles—coach Sherwin Meneses still sounded far from satisfied.
Meneses said the team is still adjusting to the return of eight-time Best Setter Jia De Guzman and former MVP Bernadeth Pons, but added that the culture and leadership they bring will continue to anchor the squad.
“It’s definitely challenging, especially with players like Jia and Pons back,” said Meneses in Filipino. “Everyone on Creamline’s lineup is talented and reliable.
“That’s why our goal is to improve every day in training,” he went on. “The motivation to win is always there, but we also want to build better chemistry—even if we already know each other. At the end of the day, it’s always about team effort. Our target is to keep improving and keep winning.
Pons delivered 19 points, 13 excellent receptions, and 10 digs, while De Guzman had 20 excellent sets and scored eight points, highlighted by three blocks.
“We work on this every day because our game against PLDT showed us what we still lack—both individually and as a team,” said Pons, who won a gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games beach volleyball with Rondina. “So we keep working on it daily, especially our connection and communication.
De Guzman, who played in Japan while still being the main setter of the Alas Pilipinas program the past two years, said the Cool Smashers are working their way to bring back the championship connection, as they are raring to bounce back from a title-less 2025.
“Individually, we’re very skilled,” De Guzman said. “The challenge is putting it all together and making it cohesive—so that on the court, we know exactly how each other will move. That’s what we’re trying to figure out right now.
“We’re doubling our efforts on communication,” said the star setter in Filipino. “You could see in our first game that our lapses were mostly in communication. We really worked on that this week, but we still have more to improve going into the next game.”
The Cool Smashers will continue to take it one game at a time, as they battle the ZUS Coffee Thunderbelles on Tuesday next week at FilOil Centre in San Juan City.
