Bucking up-and-down ride, Creamline clinches Finals slot first

After a roller-coaster season, Creamline was the first squad to clinch a seat in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference Finals.

The Cool Smashers, who at some point in the conference had its title hopes on the line, pulled off a 25-16, 25-21, 25-20 victory over Chery Tiggo on Sunday, the very team who snapped the 19-game winning run of the defending champions in the preliminary round.

“We are happy to reach the Finals again, but the job is not yet done,” coach Sherwin Meneses said in Filipino as Creamline awaits for who it will face in the best-of-three Finals series.

“Our target is to defend the crown so we would prepare again for whoever we will fight,” Meneses added after the Cool Smashers improved to a 2-1 card in the round-robin semifinals.

Who gets to challenge the winningest team in the PVL will be decided by the semifinal pairing between Choco Mucho and Petro Gazz ,who are in a heated showdown as of press time.

With two wins in their pockets, the Flying Titans are in a strong position to return to the Finals if they become victorious against the Angels. But if Petro Gazz manages to snag a win, the two sides will be tied at 2-1 records that would require a playoff for the last remaining ticket to the Finals.Whoever ends up at the third slot between Choco Mucho and Petro Gazz will meet Chery Tiggo in the battle for third.

Tots Carlos continued to be her productive self after helping Creamline with 16 points from 11 attacks, three blocks and the Cool Smashers’ only two aces. Carlos had Alyssa Valdez to form a 1-2 punch with 10 points, nine coming from attacks.

“We are happy to secure a spot in the championship,” reigning Finals MVP Carlos said.

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“We fought for every situation, for every point, and that’s what’s important,” Meneses said. “Win or lose, as long as we are ready for every situation because there are no weak teams anymore and that’s what we are preparing for everyday because we can’t predict what will happen.”

That would be a very handy mindset for the seven-time champion Creamline, which Meneses said doesn’t have any preference between Petro Gazz and Choco Mucho.

“Every day we need to have a champion mindset because coach tells us that we cannot control all of the situations which won’t be perfect or would always favor us,” Carlos said. INQ