MANILA, Philippines — This is one match Creamline wouldn’t want to drop.
The Cool Smashers shoot for the clincher against an embattled PetroGazz Angels today, looking not only for a 13th straight victory but also another sweep of the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference crown at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
The defending champions haven’t yield a game in two months, winning nine straight in the double round elims, and sweeping the PacificTown Army Lady Troopers in the Final Four. And they go all out to cap that remarkable run with another victory against the very squad that dealt them their first and only setback in the inaugurals of the third season of the league last May 25.
Gametime is at 4 p.m.
The Cool Smashers actually lost the first set of Game One of their best-of-three series with the Angels but fought back and dominated the next two before thwarting the latter’s late charge to fashion out a 24-26, 25-16, 25-16, 25-22 victory last Wednesday.
That moved Creamline a win from duplicating its sweep of PayMaya last year. The Cool Smashers went on to capture the Open conference crown against the Motolite-Ateneo Lady Eagles also via sweep.
But Creamline is actually bracing for the worst, knowing PetroGazz will pour it all out to force a rubber.
“We’re thinking of the worst but we’re also thinking of the best for our team,” said Creamline top local Alyssa Valdez who with Risa Sato, Michele Gumabao, Jema Galanza, Jia Morado, Kyla Atienza and Melissa Gohing have provided the needed firepower and hustle to imports Thai Kuttika Kaewpin and Venezuelan Ale Blanco, scoring 16 hits in the series’ opener.