Familiar faces lead the charge in Creamline’s first opening day loss in five years…ironically in the same conference.
At 11:17 P.M. on Tuesday, the Creamline Cool Smashers found themselves in unfamiliar territory, dropping their PVL Reinforced Conference opener against the PLDT High-Speed Hitters. For the first time in five years, the dominant darlings were vulnerable enough to be beaten on opening day.
Dialing in PLDT’s charge was none other than the tandem of Rald Ricafort and Arnold Laniug, who banked on a 34-point outburst from Russian spiker Lena Samoilenko alongside solid contributions from Majoy Baron, and Fiona Ceballos in the nightcap.
As fate would have it, Rald Ricafort and Arnold Laniog also orchestrated that very loss Creamline suffered five years ago, when they were still with the Petro Gazz Angels.
The Ricafort-Laniog pairing aside, that also came in the 2019 Reinforced Conference, where the legendary Wilma Salas and Janisa Johnson led the Angels’ opening sweep over the Cool Smashers in San Juan. Laniog was Petro Gazz’s head coach at the time, with Ricafort being one of his deputies.
As noted, the pair have since taken their act to PLDT with interchanged roles: Ricafort is now head coach, while Laniug is now his lieutenant. Gone are the Salas and Johnson Tandem, and they’re now relying on Samoilenko and a veteran support cast.
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More than the repeat, Rald Ricafort relishes in the fact that PLDT took down the mighty Creamline. After all, Creamline will always be the PVL’s top dogs, even if they’re fielding a depleted squad for now.
Besides that, coaching PLDT is now a new chapter for the young mentor, who could’ve relished the feat more if he remained with Petro Gazz.
“Regardless nung timeline siguro, kung Creamline naman makuhanan mo ng panalo, malaking bagay talaga ‘yun kasi alam naman na sila ‘yung laging nasa taas eh. So at least kahit papaano, ‘yung nabaon namin from last game na conference, mas ‘yun ‘yung pinaghuhugutan namin na kaya naman kung tatrabahuhuin talaga, plus the addition of Lena [Samoilenko],” Ricafort said in the post-game press conference.
In a follow-up chat with The GAME, Ricafort also noted how the addition of imports allows for more seamless executions:“‘Yung system na gusto namin i-run, mas nagiging suabe. ‘Yung mga imports naman na ‘yan tatrabaho at tatrabahuhin na lang ‘yan eh. Plus ‘yung dinadagdag na firepower, kahit papaano madaling i-plano ‘yung laro.”
With momentum now on their side, Rald Ricafort and PLDT now hope to keep winning in the Conference’s group stages. Owing to the current format, the top three teams from PLDT’s Group A will figure in a crossover with Group B’s bottom three teams. Simply put, each win is a game away from an uphill climb, PLDT included.
Fortunately, PLDT has more than momentum as we speak. For one thing, Ricafort has adjusted accordingly due to losing Savi Davidson to a minor injury. Veteran Mika Reyes has also returned, while a one-month buildup has allowed Samoilenko to fit in nicely with the system early on.
“Habol namin, pag nag-crossover with the other bracket, sana kami ‘yung mag top three para hindi mabigat ‘yung magiging kacrossover namin. Pero ‘yun nga, every game talaga wala na kaming chance na pumetiks kasi lahat na ng teams sa bracket din namin lumevel up na rin,” Ricafort told reporters.
“So hangga’t kaya namin manalo, pipilitin para matuloy ‘yung momentum namin.”
Banner Image from the Premier Volleyball League. Special thanks to Noel Zarate.
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