THE Philippine contingent was dealt a double whammy as Creamline also suffered defeat at the hands of nine-time Kazakh champion Zhetysu, 16-25, 17-25, 17-25, in the 2025 AVC Women’s Champions League on Monday at the Philsports Arena.
It becomes Creamline’s first straight-sets loss in any competition in 401 days since absorbing defeat to Chery Tiggo in prelims play of the 2024 PVL All-Filipino Conference last Mar. 16.
Both of the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference finalists dropped their Day Two assignments after Petro Gazz fell flat in its tournament debut to Chinese Taipei’s Taipower in four sets.
Just about a day since the Cool Smashers’ opening-day sweep over Jordan’s Al Naser Club, the 10-time PVL champions failed to sustain their fiery start against the nine-time Kazakhstan Women's Volleyball League champions — one of the most decorated teams in the competition.
Creamline had another shaky start to the match where it trailed by as much as eight in multiple occasions during the opening frame.
It became a much closer contest come Set 2 up until the halfway point at 13-12 in Zhetysu’s favor.
Then came a 12-5 Kazakh blitz led by veteran power winger Tatyana Nikitina.
Down 0-2, what Filipino volleyball fans would consider a signature Creamline comeback wasn’t to be as the momentum boost of an early 6-1 Zhetysu lead in the final frame proved to be unassailable and more than enough to win their tournament opener convincingly.
As such, Creamline capped pool play with a 1-1 card and will now be an interested spectator come tomorrow’s Pool A finale between Zhetysu (1-0) and Al Naser Club (0-1).
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