HEAD COACH: Sherwin Meneses
2024-25 PVL AFC: 10-1 (runner-up)
IMPORTS: Erica Staunton (OH; United States), Anastassiya Kolomoyets (MB; Kazakhstan), Anastasiya Kudryashova (OP; Russia)
LOCALS: Alyssa Valdez, Jema Galanza, Ella de Jesus, Bernadeth Pons, Michele Gumabao, Pangs Panaga, Kyle Negrito, Rhea Dimaculangan-Villarete, Kyla Atienza, Aleiah Torres
POOL PLAY MATCH SCHEDULE (Pool A)
- CREAMLINE vs AL NASER CLUB (Jordan) - April 20 (Sunday), 4 p.m.
- CREAMLINE vs ZHETYSU (Kazakhstan) - April 21 (Monday), 7 p.m.
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CREAMLINE has only lost 40 times in the 216 PVL matches it played over an eight-year stretch.
And none of those losses will hurt more than the last two it suffered in the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference.
READ: Alyssa says rare PVL Finals loss 'humanizes' dynastic Creamline
Losing is already a rarity in itself for the 10-time PVL champions, let alone losing twice in a title series and losing a championship and a three-year All-Filipino reign altogether to perennial rival Petro Gazz.
With an almost-instant shot at redemption, albeit on a different stage, such cruel defeats will fuel the Cool Smashers’ bid for continental supremacy in the 2025 AVC Women’s Champions League from Apr. 20 to 27 at the Philsports Arena.
Creamline once made the impossible possible upon completing Philippine volleyball’s first Grand Slam last year.
This year, it will bank on that same winning formula by bringing back the PVL’s youngest import from the 2024 class in 6-foot-1 American spiker Erica Staunton.
The 24-year-old ace steered Creamline to last year’s Reinforced Conference crown against Akari and fueled the Grand Slam-clinching Invitational Conference title win over Cignal with a best outside hitter plum as the cherry on top.
Creamline's fearsome threesome
But to stand a chance among 12 of Asia’s finest clubs, the Cool Smashers tapped two more fiery guest imports to back their gold medal bid in the continental meet.
And one of them in 34-year-old, 6-foot Kazakh middle blocker Anastassiya Kolomoyets has won this very competition two years ago with Kuanysh VC and set foot in the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship — the ultimate goal for Creamline in this year’s tournament.
The other? 25-year-old, 6-foot-4 Russian winger Anastasiya Kudryashova who carries championship pedigree in Kazakhstan, international playing experience in Russia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and a US NCAA Division I background with Penn State Nittany Lions.
An elite trio of foreign guest players backed by the PVL’s winningest local core led by the likes of Alyssa Valdez, Bernadeth Pons, Jema Galanza, Ella de Jesus, Pangs Panaga, Michele Gumabao and Lorie Bernardo among many others equip Creamline with more than enough tools to mount a promising charge in the week-long conclave.
Not to mention, a returning veteran setter in Rhea Dimaculangan-Villarete will don pink for the first time along with three-time PVL best setter Kyle Negrito and decorated floor generals Kyla Atienza and rookie Aleiah Torres.
Veterans in the international stage as a former Philippine representative in AVC competitions, Creamline knows and maybe even has what it takes to leave a lasting impression in the continental scene.
The pursuit of redemption is one thing for Cool Smashers while the quest for Asian domination is another. And it all begins in pool play on Apr. 20 against Jordan’s Al Naser Club (4 p.m.) and on Apr. 21 versus Kazakhstan’s Zhetysu (7 p.m.).
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