NOT once did Creamline think a breakthrough win over PLDT was out of reach, even down two sets to one.
Facing three match points in the fourth set, the MVP duo of Jema Galanza and Bernadeth Pons held firm, forcing and eventually winning a gripping five-set duel to draw first blood in the 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference semifinals.
READ: Creamline stuns PLDT in five, nears PVL finals return
Galanza, who saved two match points in Set 4, never lost belief despite five straight losses to PLDT entering the match.
“Ginawa lahat talaga ng paraan para mapanalo. So, kaya hindi ko na-feel ngayong game na ‘ah, wala na,’” she said after finishing with 17 points.
“Alam mo ‘yung feeling ko na ‘kaya pa, mananalo tayo, sa’tin ‘to,” she added after scoring four points late in the decider.
Pons backed her up with a massive 28-point, 22-reception, 16-dig triple-double.
“Nu’ng third set, medyo malayo ‘yung score nila. Pero nakakuha kami ng momentum pa-end ng third set kahit natalo kami,” she said.
“Alam ko talaga na kaya namin kuhanin ‘yung fourth set. Kahit na lumamang sila, kaya namin humabol.”
“Sobrang ni-compose namin ‘yung sarili namin kasi alam namin na amin ‘tong laro na 'to. Alam namin na makukuha namin ‘yung set na ‘yun so sobrang kinapitan namin,” Pons added
Never not possible
Creamline refused to let PLDT’s three-year mastery linger any further.
While aware of the pressure of opening a single round-robin semifinals against a fellow champion, the Cool Smashers made a conscious effort to shed that weight.
“Sa mga ganung games, talagang hindi mo masasabi. Sobrang grabe ‘yung pressure, mataas ‘yung pressure,” Galanza said.
“Lagi lang akong nire-remind na gumalaw ako nang walang pressure para iwas tayo sa injury.”
For head coach Sherwin Meneses, the win was also a product of finally having a complete roster after Pons and Galanza missed the tail-end of the preliminaries with minor injury setbacks.
“‘Yung mga experiences namin na mahirap, ‘yun ‘yung nagpapalakas siguro sa amin dito sa semis,” he said.
“Thankful kami na naging healthy kami, kahit papano, nakakapaglaro na lahat. Hindi katulad nu’ng elimination na merong wala, merong nandito, merong wala. ‘Yun ‘yung pinaka-importante. Masaya kami kasi healthy kami ngayong semifinals.”
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