THE Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference brought its ever-tightening volleyball action to Cagayan de Oro this weekend, featuring a double header for CDO volleyball fans to look forward to.
As planned before the opening of the season, PVL will stage a series of out-of-town game days in Antipolo, Batangas City, Cagayan de Oro, llocos Sur (Candon), Iloilo, and Laguna (Santa Rosa), apart from the usual Metro Manila games.
Creamline, PLDT, Akari, and Gerflor, the teams who will demonstrate their talent in front of Cagayan de Oro residents, were greeted warmly by their fans yesterday, ahead of their highly anticipated games this evening.
The four PVL squads made a courtesy visit to Mayor Rolando Uy at Cagayan de Oro City Hall, where league executives and personnel led by President Ricky Palou and Chairman Tonyboy Liao enjoyed lunch before engaging in a meet and greet with their fans.
Creamline Cool Smashers
The Cool Smashers appear to be peaking just in time for the semis, after pulling off an unexpected sweep, defeating top challenger F2 Logistics Cargo Movers 3-0 last Tuesday to stay at 6-0 and remain the league’s only unbeaten team.
Despite losing major players Jia De Guzman and Ced Domingo, who flew overseas to compete, Creamline remained unbeaten in six games. Kyle Negrito, on the other hand, has accepted her major role as De Guzman’s replacement.
Coach Sherwin Menses has made the most of his deep spiker rotation, which includes Tots Carlos, Michele Gumabao, Alyssa Valdez, Jema Galanza, and Bernadeth Pons.
Creamline has gained a lot of confidence over the last six games, including a lopsided straight-set triumph over F2 Logistics. The Cool Smashers will aim to carry this momentum into their showdown with the PLDT, led by Savannah Davison.
PLDT High-Speed Hitters
The High-Speed Hitters, on the other hand, were defeated 1-3 by the surging Chery Tiggo Crossovers last weekend, dropping them to fifth place at 5-2, trailing the Choco Mucho Flying Titans and the Crossovers and the Cignal HD Spikers.
As a result, their meeting with the reigning champions is a must-win for the PLDT, as another defeat would drop the High Speed Hitters even more from the race to the semis.
PLDT, led by middle blockers Mika Reyes and Dell Palomata, will look to improve on a four-set setback to Chery Tiggo last week and move up from the fifth position with a 5-2 record.
The uphill battle for the PLDT squad has just begun, as they have a lot of work to do to get to the next round, given how difficult their upcoming matchups will be against semis-gunning teams Choco Mucho, F2 Logistics, and Petro Gazz.
Aside from the main event at 6 p.m. between rivals Creamline Cool Smasher and PLDT High-Speed Hitters, Akari (3-4) looks to snap a three-game losing streak and remain in semifinal contention against the struggling Gerflor (0-7).
