After winning a historic Grand Slam in 2024 by capturing the All-Filipino, Invitational, and Reinforced Conferences, Creamline now finds itself holding on to just one title.
The Cool Smashers failed to defend their All-Filipino crown last April, bowing to the Petro Gazz Angels in a hard-fought three-game series.
The 10-time PVL champions also missed the Finals of the Invitational Conference, settling for bronze last August.
That leaves the Reinforced Conference as their last chance to retain at least one of the three crowns they ruled in 2024.
But for head coach Sherwin Meneses, Creamline has almost perfected the art of handling pressure.
“Wala namang pressure. Ang Creamline naman is laging every game nag-a-accept kahit anong pressure. Wala naman. Marami pa naman conference, pero naka-focus kami this conference talaga,” said Meneses, the architect of seven Cool Smashers titles.
(C) PVL Images
Still, Meneses acknowledged that the rest of the league has caught up with them, and it’s now up to Creamline to lean on their experience as an edge.
The Cool Smashers will look to defend their throne with American import Courtney Schwan when they open their campaign on October 11 at the City of Dasmariñas Arena against Akari — a rematch of last year’s Reinforced Conference gold medal match.
“I think may advantage naman lagi ang Creamline diyan, dahil sanay na sa mga labanan na may import. Pero, siyempre, sabi mo nga yung ibang team hindi magpapatalo yan. So, ready lang kami sa mga games namin ngayong conference,” said Meneses.
“Siguro yung labanan ngayon this conference talaga, yung preparation talaga dapat solid din. Siyempre 40-percent yung import mo kung gaano kagaling, gaano kadeterminadong makatulong sa team.”
But beyond chasing another championship, Meneses stressed that his top priority is keeping his team healthy.
Creamline played both the PVL On Tour preseason tournament and the Invitational Conference without star spiker Tots Carlos and middle blocker Bea de Leon.
“Hopefully, matapos ‘yung liga namin na healthy. Siguro ‘yun ‘yung no. 1, ‘yun yung target maging healthy hanggang sa end of the conference pero siyempre dapat ‘yung mindset namin talaga naka-defend sa title namin,” he said.
“Hopefully, Courtney will be a big help for us.”
