MANILA –Creamline clinched its seventh crown in a stunning victory over Choco Mucho, captivating a record crowd with a 22-25, 25-20, 29-27, 24-26, 15-12 triumph.
Coach Sherwin Meneses’ strategic use of bench players showcased Creamline’s depth and strength, securing another All-Filipino crown through a title sweep.
Despite the Flying Titans’ initial lead, Cool Smashers’ resilience, led by key players like Michele Gumabao, Pangs Panaga, and Alyssa Valdez, proved pivotal, dashing the opponents’ hopes and extending Creamline’s dominance in their 11 face-offs.
The monumental victory unfolded in front of a historic crowd of 24,459 fans at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, surpassing previous volleyball attendance records.
“It’s the love for each other. Ayaw naming masayang ang pagod namin,” said a teary-eyed Jema Galanza, who clinched game’s top honors with a 21-point performance. “Our mindset was to play it one point at a time, hindi nakukuha sa mabilisan ang lahat.”
Truly, the Cool Smashers worked for every play and for every point to get back into the match with Valdez bucking a couple of foiled attacks with three straight hits and Risa Sato scoring on a quick attack and Galanza adding two more hits to force an 8-all count in the fifth.
But it was all worth the challenge as Creamline completed its amazing 15-game sweep of the season-ending conference, their second All-Filipino crown in the season as the Cool Smashers added another chapter to the franchise’s storied success in women’s volley.
It was Creamline’s seventh PVL championship – and a second straight All-Filipino feat after turning back Petro Gazz in sudden death last March. More importantly, its romp mirrored the team’s Open Conference successful title-retention drive in 2019 where the Cool Smashers won all their 20 games.
Creamline also scored a perfect campaign in the last year’s Open Conference.
Tots Carlos topscored for Creamline with 26 points while Pons and Panaga came up with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Valdez wound up with eight markers and Gumabao pumped in five clutch points and Lorie Roberto added four points in the two-hour, 40-minute victory that also dashed Choco Mucho coach Dante Alinsunurin’s hopes for a double after steering National U to a stirring victory over fancied Cignal in the Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference finals last Friday.
Rondina sizzled with a personal-high 33 points, including 29 on attacks, and went on to capture the MVP honors, while Maddie Madayag and Kat Tolentino finished with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Bea de Leon, Caitlyn Viray and Arocha scored six points apiece.
(AI/MNM)
