WITH or without their stars, Creamline remains the champion team it's always been.
In the words of Cool Smashers playmaker Kyle Negrito, ‘Creamline pa rin naman kami.’
The Premier Volleyball League’s (PVL) winningest team found its playoff-bound way in pool play without its champion-MVP trio in captain Alyssa Valdez, Tots Carlos, and Alas Pilipinas’ Jema Galanza.
Six wins in eight matches, the latest a sweep of still-winless ZUS Coffee, are already enough to lock in the No. 3 seed.
What now awaits them is a potential knockout quarterfinals showdown with either a resurgent Capital1 side or longtime title rival Petro Gazz.
There’s one thing about the gutsy Cool Smashers, however, which still stands out for Negrito, who has orchestrated the offense in the last three PVL conferences without eight-time best setter Jia de Guzman.
Familiarity breeds a never-ending learning process for a team whose core has been mostly intact for the last seven years and has gotten eight titles since its inception.
“Learning process pa rin siya every game na kinukuha pa rin namin ‘yung loob ng isa’t isa. Creamline pa rin naman eh, kahit sinong nandyan. Matagal na rin naman kaming magkakasama so walang problema,” said the setter.
Next Cool Smasher up
As Galanza is expected to miss the remainder of the conference in light of her national team duties, injured Valdez and Carlos also have yet to see action.
Although they’ve been present on the sidelines since pool play began, Creamline head coach Sherwin Meneses is still unsure if his star troika will get to reinforce their championship campaign.
But whatever the case may be, expect the Cool Smashers to be ready as they’ve always been.
“Hopefully, makabalik sila, pero hindi ko kasi masagot kasi ‘yung medical team namin, wala pang advice,” Meneses said.
“Ready naman kami kung hindi sila makabalik or kung makabalik sila. Ready naman ‘yung team, especially ‘yung mga bench players na nagko-contribute naman talaga nang husto. Kung makabalik, anytime. Kung hindi makabalik, ready kami.”
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