CREAMLINE had put itself in an enviable position midway through the 2026 PVL Invitational preliminaries, unbeaten through three games and needing just one win in its final two assignments to clinch an outright berth in the finals.
That gave the 11-time champions the luxury of avoiding the complicated tiebreak scenarios developing around them. Beat EST Cola last Friday and Creamline was through. Lose, and there was still Sunday's showdown with PLDT.
READ: Jaja feeling blue as Creamline mission left unaccomplished
But the Cool Smashers failed to capitalize on either opportunity.
The loss to EST Cola opened the door for the rest of the field before PLDT shut it on Sunday, sending Creamline down to third place at the end of the preliminaries and out of the title race.
Head coach Sherwin Meneses would then be left in a difficult position to urge his multi-titled side to just take the loss to the chin.
“Be professional. Kung third and fourth 'yung napunta sa amin, maglalaro kami nang maganda. Natalo, so tanggapin lang namin," Meneses said.
The disappointment was evident considering what was at stake, but Meneses said his players never lacked the desire to win. Creamline also received encouraging contributions from its reserves, only to come up short in the crucial moments of the match.
“‘Yung players talaga gusto manalo. Lahat ng players gusto manalo. Maganda naman performance nung off the bench namin, talagang kinulang talaga para sa amin," he said.
“May mga lapses sa huli, 'yun 'yung medyo crucial especially sa fourth set. Medyo 'di namin naibigay 'yung mga crucial points.”
Meneses tipped his hat to a PLDT side that showed the kind of professionalism he now expects from Creamline in the rematch, even as the High Speed Hitters no longer had the chance to reach the finals before their match.
“Napaka-professional nu’ng PLDT kahit na medyo malabo na silang makapasok, binigay nila. Ganun din kami. Sa Tuesday, battle for third, so PLDT, Creamline, gagawin namin 'yung best namin talaga," he said.
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