Creamline all set to reclaim familiar place on PVL pedestal
Games on Thursday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
3 p.m. – PLDT vs Farm Fresh
5:30 p.m. – Creamline vs Cignal
JEMA GALANZA and the Creamline Cool Smashers will go into Game Two of their best-of-three Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference title series on Thursday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum seeking one thing alone — reclaim their old, familiar place at the PVL pedestal.
“We’re just eager to win because it’s a different feeling to win now than before,” said Ms. Galanza, who spearheaded Creamline’s 25-22, 25-18, 25-16 dismantling of Cignal in last Tuesday’s opener that catapulted them on the cusp of claiming a legacy-enhancing 11th championship.
There was that determined look in the eyes of Ms. Galanza and the rest of the ice cream-producing club that evidently showed they are determined to regain their old place on top.
And it was born out of Creamline’s desperation to toughen up after the rest of the league landscape had improved by leaps and bounds.
So much so that there was a point in the last 20 months — the stretch when the team went title-less — that they began to doubt themselves.
“In my long years with Creamline, I consider this season as the most difficult of all because other teams have leveled up. That’s why we cherish every win because it meant that we really worked hard for it,” said Ms. Galanza.
So that Game One win was more than a statement but a warning to Cignal that the once feared old queens of the league are back.
And the Cignal Super Spikers should heed it.
“It was obviously tough for us,” said Cignal coach Shaq Delos Santos.
Cignal came into the series as the prohibitive favorite after having beaten Creamline in the last two of their three encounters this conference in the semis and the qualifying round.
But the Manuel V. Pangilinan franchise’s minimal finals experience showed against a squad that had been there and done that after making the finals 15 times and snaring 10 titles.
Despite it, Mr. Delos Santos is keeping the faith.
“I have to keep believing in the team and the system and not pressure ourselves much. We really have to bring out our true game,” he said.
Game Two is set at 5:30 p.m. with a decider, if necessary, slated on Tuesday at the same Cubao venue. — Joey Villar
