THERE is no other time to shift gears than now. The Creamline Cool Smashers will go on an uncharted journey in the 2024-2025 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference, where their five-peat aspirations are at stake.
The reigning champions face an opponent in the Akari Chargers who is coming off a spectacular victory against the Choco Mucho Flying Titans. They need to calm the clamor and focus on extending their season.
Following a painful four-set loss to the Petro Gazz Angels last Saturday (23-25, 22-25, 25-21, 16-25), the Cool Smashers are hoping to rebound against the Chargers this afternoon.
Creamline may have started their semi-finals campaign in an unexpected way, but team captain Alyssa Valdez remains optimistic that the squad has a chance to return to the promised land by taking it one game at a time.
Breathe In, Let Go
While this was only their second loss of the season, it came at the worst possible time. Nonetheless, concentrating on the past will prevent them from successfully defending their title.
“Definitely, it wasn’t the happy-happy na Cool Smashers but I think everyone was taking it in, trying to leave everything that happened here in Ynares and move forward,” Valdez shared after the game.
“It was a tough loss. I guess it’s not the ideal way to start the semifinals, but the coaches reminded us that it happened already. We have to let it go kasi importante na ‘yung mga next games namin.”
“So as much as we want to dwell on it, we have to move forward and focus on the next game,” she went on to say, emphasizing the need to move forward, especially in the current position they’re in.
Expecting it from a champion team, the dugout was stunned by the setback, as shown by the team’s silence after the game. Creamline head coach Sherwin Meneses and his staff, on the other hand, understood that they needed to rapidly snap their players out of the moment.
“Very quiet, but sila coach kasi reminded us na if we stay like this kami rin ‘yung maapektuhan talaga. So siya rin ‘yung nagsabi na iwan na natin dito, move forward, and focus sa training tomorrow,” Valdez added.
Run Through A Wall
Everything has already transpired, as Valdez mentioned. Now, the entire Cool Smasher team has a few hours to figure out how to run through a wall and make it back to the championship round.
One thing is certain: they must provide dominant performances in their final games against Akari this afternoon and Choco Mucho on Thursday to improve their chances of claiming one of the two championship spots.
“It’s not the start that we wanted. The challenge is very big, but accepted. We put ourselves in this situation, kami ‘yung kailangan na gumawa ng paraan kung gusto talaga namin kahit papaano ma-save ‘yung season na ‘to,” the veteran added.
The Creamline Cool Smashers and Akari Chargers will begin the second round of semi-finals action at 4:00 p.m., followed by the Petro Gazz Angels and Choco Mucho Flying Titans at 6:30 p.m., all at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
