THERE’S Creamline in the preliminaries and playoffs.
And there’s Creamline in the finals.
And for the MVP duo of Jema Galanza and Bernadeth Pons, they are not the same squad.
Having been part of the Cool Smashers’ rise, the veteran winger said the 10-time champions simply shift to another gear when the title is on the line, something she showed in a 17-point, 13-reception effort in their Game 1 win over Cignal.
READ: Creamline smashes Cignal, now a win from reclaiming PVL crown
“‘Yung ganitong games, minsan lang mangyari sa life namin. Kapag mga ganitong laro talaga, gina-grab namin at binibigay namin ‘yung best namin kasi ito na ‘yung last games ng season,” she said.
“Iisipin mo rin ‘yung mga pinaghirapan niyo nu’ng kabuuan ng season, ‘yung pagod, ganyan. Kami, pagdating sa mga ganitong padulo na, talagang mas binibigay namin ‘yung 100-percent.”
And this time, the stakes feel even heavier.
With the rest of the league catching up, Galanza admitted this season has been one of their toughest yet.
“‘Ako, sa tagal ko sa Creamline, ito ‘yung season na mabigat talaga kasi nag-level up na ‘yung ibang teams at nag-build sila ng players,” she said.
“Pinu-push nga namin ‘yung isa’t-isa kung aabot ba kami sa dulo. Ngayon, mas gigil kami talagang manalo kasi iba ‘yung feeling ngayon ‘pag nanalo kami. Kapag nanalo kami, pinaghirapan talaga namin ‘to.”
Just us, Day 1-ish
It’s not just about the championship for the Cool Smashers. It's about everything it took to get there.
For Pons, the grind behind each conference leaves no room for a let-up, especially in a campaign where she barely had time to rest following a Southeast Asian Games gold medal run before jumping back into Creamline duties.
“Iba talaga ‘pag finals ‘yung labanan. Ayaw namin din talaga na masayang ‘yung sacrifices namin, ‘yung effort namin since nag-start ‘yung training,” she said. “Ang daming struggles ng teams at hindi naging madali sa’min ‘yung conference na ‘to.”
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
