Creamline’s long and languid PVL Reinforced Conference campaign finally paid off on Wednesday.
Riddled with injuries and a sudden import change, the Cool Smashers inched to one win away from the franchise’s first-ever title after taking care of the PayMaya High Flyers in Game One, Sunday evening at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Though the title could come with unprecedented glory and incentives for the Cool Smashers, finally getting a break from the daily grind of a season under known-drillmaster coach Tai Bundit motivates the ladies in pink much more.
“Sinasabi lang namin sa sarili na ‘wag na tayo mag-training ng Thursday to Saturday kung Sunday man ‘yung next game,” quipped Creamline’s vocal anchor Michele Gumabao, who tallied eight points in Game One.
“That’s the motivation,” chimed captain Alyssa Valdez, who managed 18 markers.
“When you’re under coach Tai, hindi niya talaga pinapababa or pinapatigil ‘yung intensity ng training.
“The motivation is to finish the game talaga para mag-pay off lahat ng sacrifices. After every game, uuwi ka, rest, then training agad. ‘Yung motivation siguro with that is kailangan mo din talaga ng rest. No matter what happens naman, we’re really going to give our best para dalhin ‘yung ginagawa namin sa training. We want to be confident talaga,” the 25-year-old Valdez added.
Still, Creamline know that PayMaya will not simply lay down and hand them the trophy.
They always go back to Bundit’s belief that, whether they win or lose, they need to immediately forget what happened and focus on the next set.
“Whatever happened today, we have to forget,” the 25-year-old Gumabao emphasized.
“Every set, you start fresh. We have to start each set with confidence and power talaga.”
