CREAMLINE wasn’t the first Philippine scalp claimed by nine-time Kazakhstan Volleyball League champion Zhetysu.
READ: Kazakh powerhouse Zhetysu sweeps Creamline in AVC
Four years ago, the same Kazakh club took down the hastily-assembled Choco Mucho-Philippines national team back in the 2021 Asian Women's Club Volleyball Championship.
Nikitina Tatyana, who topscored for Zhetysu in their 25-17, 25-16, 25-16 win over Creamline in the 2025 AVC Women’s Champions League, was already with the Kazakh club at the time four years ago.
Tatyana & Co. first took a jab at the nationals in pool play in straight sets, 25-22, 25-19, 25-15.
It was through a commanding 19-piece from winger Anastasiya Gurbanova and a pair of 14-point performances from Valeriya Shatunova and captain Svetlana Parukova in which the Kazakh club was able to keep the nationals winless.
In that loss for Choco Mucho-Philippines, Fil-American spiker Kalei Mau dropped 11 markers on 10 points and one block.
The two teams would cross paths once more in the battle for fifth place.
With higher stakes, the same result still emerged — a clean 25-14, 25-11, 25-23 Zhetysu sweep.
Nikitina had her sharpest game of the tournament then with nine attack points behind Shatunova’s 13.
Mau was still the lone bright spot for the Philippines at the time with 12 markers on eight attacks and four blocks.
Same winning formula, three years later
Zhetysu head coach Marko Grsic made sure to equip himself and the team with the necessary tools to take 10-time PVL champion Creamline down.
With the prior experience of taking down a Philippine team years ago, Grsic knew just how to get the job done again on top of Creamline’s two new imports hailing from Zhetysu’s domestic rival Kuanysh.
“Before we arrived in the Philippines, I watched the final matches of the Philippines championship and I already saw every player," he said.
“Also, the foreign players in Creamline, they played in Kazakhstan championship and we already know the qualities and all things they could do and we were very very prepared for this match.”
Grsic added: “I hope that [prior experience against Philippines] will help because I could see that all Philippine teams play similar style and I hope that will help us in the future.”
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