BACARRA, ILOCOS NORTE — Creamline was already at the cusp of the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference title.
Back in Game One of the Finals, the Cool Smashers dominantly took the first two sets before eventually evading a major collapse in the fifth set for the 1-0 lead.
As expected, Chery Tiggo came back with vengeance in Game Two — leaning on a monster performance from Jaja Santiago to send the series to a deciding Game Three.
Creamline, just like what they did in the opening game of the series, plucked the first and second sets in Game Three with ease before losing the next two to the Crossovers, putting them in a very familiar situation once more.
Prior to the winner-take-all match, the Cool Smashers were 5-0 in five-setters. Add to that the fact there was no team in the tournament that went down 0-2 and won the entire series.
But as fate would have it, the great wall of Santiago and Dindin Santiago-Manabat would not be denied of a date with destiny.
In pure comeback fashion, Chery Tiggo prevailed over Creamline’s barrage of spikers, taking a 23-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-8 win to secure the first-ever professional volleyball title in the Philippines.
Still, despite the heartbreaking loss, there were no regrets from the side of the Cool Smashers.
After all, they knew in their hearts that they’ve poured everything they have out on the floor.
“They really deserve the win, pinaghirapan din talaga ng Chery Tiggo and it’s for them, no excuses naman kami.
“We feel like we gave our all also and we’re just really happy na nakaabot kami dito,” said Alyssa Valdez, who was awarded the Best Outside Hitter
“No matter what happened today, we gave it our all.
“We have to give it to Chery din naman, tinrabaho naman talaga nila even before today they’ve been playing a lot of games,” added Morado, the Best Setter of the tournament.
According to the 1-2 punch of Creamline, they will make sure to absorb every ounce lesson they learned all throughout the bubble season.
Moreover, they are just glad to end the season without any major injuries from the squad.
“I think moving forward marami kaming matututunan sa pangyayari na ‘to so we really congratulate Chery Tiggo,” said Valdez.
“So right now we’re just really grateful na we made it through the season, we made it without any injuries and we know naman na whatever the results are, there’s always next time and there’s always a time to get better,” Morado continued.
With the second conference still up in the air, they will first get their much-deserved rest after a grueling, but fulfilling conference.
Rest assured, they will rise again, and they will be back stronger than ever.
“We’re finally getting a well-deserved rest na we’ve been waiting for kasi we have been training for months talaga for this and the schedule is very difficult also for us, for any player playing in the PVL kasi araw araw yung laro,” said the multi-title setter.
“Right now, we’ll rest, and then ‘pag ka time to train na ulit then we’ll train.”
“Siyempre a lot of uncertainties pa rin for all of us out there, but hindi pa rin namin alam kung ano yung susunod sa PVL,” echoed Valdez. “So we’re just really gonna siguro train pa rin, home workout pa rin tayo kasi hindi pa natin alam kung kailan babalik.
“But at the end of the day uuwi kami na kahit hindi ‘man kami nakakuha ng gold, lahat ng experiences namin from this bubble more than just yung tunay na gold talaga. So we’re just really thankful for everything.”
