The Creamline Cool Smashers ended the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference elimination round campaign the way they should have – with an emphatic drubbing of the Adamson-Akari Lady Falcons for their 11th win in 14 outings.
“That’s what focus, intensity, and execution looks like,” admitted Adamson head coach Air Padda after her team absorbed their worst loss of the season.
While the Cool Smashers look formidable now, the Reinforced Conference champions know that a bigger challenge lies ahead of them.
The Petro Gazz Angels exacted a shocking five-set upset on the Cool Smashers on opening day. While Creamline got revenge on them last week, the Cool Smashers know that there is plenty of room for mistakes in a best-of-three series.
“We have to be confident kasi I think that’s one of the keys. Start things strong in the semifinals kasi out of the four teams, we fought against each other, we lost against one another,” said Creamline captain Alyssa Valdez, who dropped an efficient 19 points on the Lady Falcons.
“I think it’s really the confidence that we built buong tournament, ‘yun ang talagang dadalhin namin.”
The four-time league Most Valuable Player admitted that getting one over the Angels was huge for her squad, although she quickly took note that Petro Gazz had several missing players during their clash.
“Mind game kasi ‘yan eh. Kapag medyo nakaisa ka sa kalaban, it’s an additional motivation siguro na kaya niyo rin na maipanalo ang game,” shared the native of San Juan, Batangas. “I think yun ang pinanghahawakan namin ngayon. We’re 1-1 so we hope na maganda rin ang gising ng bawat isa sa amin, kasi we all know na si ate Paneng (Mercado) wala rin noong last game, so medyo nagkaroon din kami ng advantage.
“But we’re looking forward to the semifinals. ‘Di rin natin alam kung babalik ba si Ate Paneng, mas makukumpleto na sila. Kami naman, we have to work on our teamwork kasi yun din talaga ang sinasabi ni coach Tai (Bundit) sa latter part,” the three-time PVL champion added.
“Sixty-percent pa lang kasi ang teamwork namin as a team so pagdating ng semifinals hopefully mas madagdagan.”
