The Creamline Cool Smashers will now turn their focus to the AVC Champions League after their ‘drive for five’ came to a close in the All-Filipino Conference.
For the first time in five conferences, Creamline will enter the offseason as the hunters after being dethroned by the Petro Gazz Angels in the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference.
Despite forcing a do-or-die Game 3 in their finals series, the Cool Smashers were unable to fend off the Angels, who secured their first All-Filipino Conference title following a clinical performance in the rubber match at the Philsports Arena last April 12.
“Syempre about last night, ‘yung nangyari na ‘yun, kailangan maka-move on kaagad, especially may AVC tournament kami. I think ‘yung mga players naka-recover naman kaagad, and I think siguro deserve talaga ng Petro Gazz ‘yung championship kagabi. Mas gusto nilang manalo and syempre, ‘yung players hindi naman sila umayaw,” head coach Sherwin Meneses said in an interview after leading his UAAP team, the NU Lady Bulldogs, past the Ateneo Blue Eagles on Sunday.
The Angels secured their All-Filipino title through a 25-21, 25-16, 23-25, 25-19 victory over Creamline, where a strong defensive presence and heavy services prevented the defending champions from gaining consistent momentum.
While there will always be what-ifs, Meneses believes that the loss isn’t as painful as it seems for his players. As he pointed out, Creamline kept their heads high after conceding the title, and were still in good spirits as they accepted their silver medals at the Philsports Arena.
After exchanging post-game pleasantries with Petro Gazz, Creamline’s players even hyped up their supporters, along with cheering for teammate Lorie Bernardo, whose eight points allowed the Cool Smashers to steal Set 3 in the winner-takes-all match.
“Nakita naman natin wala masyadong nahagulgol ang iyak, so I think ‘di masyadong masakit ‘yung nangyari. Pero syempre competitive kasi ‘yung mga players so siguro nag-iisip din ‘yung mga ‘yan,” said the soft-spoken mentor.
Creamline now turns its focus to the AVC Champions League set for April 20 to 27, where they will be reunited with fan-favorite reinforcement Erica Staunton, and two more yet-to-be-named imports in the one-week tourney.
The Cool Smashers will be in Pool A of the regional meet, along with Kazakhstan’s VC Zheytsu and Jordan’s Al-Nassr.
“Sa ngayon, bumalik na sila sa kani–kanilang mga bahay, so hopefully maka-recover. Pero I think makaka-recover naman, so bawi na lang siguro sa ibang conference, and sa AVC…palagi naman competitive ‘yung Creamline.”
Learning experience
Even if they relinquished the title to Petro Gazz, this season’s All-Filipino Conference is no doubt a learning experience for Creamline and the rest of the PVL playing field. After all, this is the longest conference in league history, and is a departure from the usual two to three-month-long formats the league has gotten used to.
It remains to be seen whether or not we’ll be getting another six-month-long tournament, but Meneses knows that this year’s all-local tilt will be a valuable foundation for Creamline to build on moving forward.
“Medyo kinapos lang sa dulo, pero ‘yung experience na ito, siguro malaking tulong samin pag naulit ‘yung ganito kahabang conference. Ngayon pa lang kami naka-experience nang ganito eh, so malaking tulong samin para sa preparations kung may ganon kahabang conference ulit,” Meneses said.
Creamline breezed through preliminaries with a 10-1 record in this season’s All-Filipino Conference, before dispatching the Nxled Chameleons in the qualifying rounds, and the Chery Tiggo Crossovers in the best-of-three quarterfinals to book their Final Four ticket.
But again, Petro Gazz was on their own mission to win a PVL All-Filipino title, which proved to be too much for the Cool Smashers this time around.
“Actually, hindi naman siya heartbreak, talagang talo lang kasi deserve naman ng Petro Gazz, pero syempre, sa mga next conference namin, magpe-prepare kami nang mas mabuti lalo mahaba ‘yung season. Pero ngayon mas matagal pa yung break ulit, and magpe-prepare kami para makabawi,” Meneses concluded.
Images courtesy of the Premier Volleyball League.