TWO conferences ago, Creamline and Cignal were the lead title protagonists in the 2024 PVL Invitationals championship round.
CREAMLINE vs. CIGNAL (Battle for 3rd)
August 17 | Sunday | 4 p.m. | Mall of Asia Arena
They’d take a step down just about a year later as the bronze-medal contenders this time around in the 2025 PVL on Tour.
Ahead of the preseason tournament’s battle for third, here’s how both the Cool Smashers and HD Spikers fared during the near two-month-long hostilities.
READ: PVL gets new faces in finals with no Creamline or Petro Gazz
Also, we take a look at a few key numbers and records from their head-to-head battles over the last four years.
One too many hiccups
Creamline and Cignal both landed in Pool B of the preliminary round along with eventual finalist Chery Tiggo, ZUS Coffee, Akari and Capital1.
Highlighting an eventful group stage for both teams was Cignal’s rare straight-sets beating of Creamline, 25-22, 25-18, 28-26, in San Juan.
It was the HD Spikers’ first win against the 10-time PVL champions, breaking an eight-game skid after two years and seven conferences.
On the flip side, the Cool Smashers were on the losing end of a sweep for the first time in 15 months since yielding to Chery Tiggo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna during the 2024 All-Filipino Conference.
By the end of prelims play, Cignal and Creamline clinched two outright tickets to the knockout quarterfinals even as the latter suffered a second loss to ZUS Coffee.
Cignal swept Nxled while Creamline routed Farm Fresh to advance to the semifinals.
The HD Spikers were left stomped in the Final Four after losing to its prelims tormentor Chery Tiggo again in four sets, 17-25, 25-16, 21-25, 23-25.
A third-straight five-set duel saw the Cool Smashers’ seven-conference finals streak come to an end at the hands of unbeaten PLDT, 25-27, 25-22, 25-19, 16-25, 10-15.
Recent history still favors Creamline
Creamline won 11 of 14 matches against Cignal over a four-year stretch in the pros.
It even had an eight-game win streak before the HD Spikers found their breakthrough in the preseason preliminaries.
As far as playoff matches go, Creamline and Cignal have faced off five times — four in the semifinals and once in a final.
The Cool Smashers are 4-1 over the HD Spikers, with that lone Cignal win coming in the 2022 Reinforced Conference single round-robin semifinals in four sets.
Their last three playoff matches, however, were all decided in five sets in Creamline’s favor.
Taking Cignal’s most recent prelims sweep into account, history points to either another nail-biting finish or a surprise shutout.
Cignal will rely on the preseason’s leading scorer and spiker in newcomer Erika Santos, backed by second-leading setter Gel Cayuna and second-top libero Buding Duremdes, to put Creamline away again.
Standing in their way are two of the league’s top 10 scorers in veteran gunners Alyssa Valdez and Michele Gumabao, current top setter Kyle Negrito and second-leading middle blocker Pangs Panaga to gain a measure of redemption and extend their unprecedented podium streak to 18 PVL conferences since the league and club’s inceptions in 2017.
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