After witnessing Galeries Tower’s shocking upset over Cignal just minutes earlier, Creamline entered its qualifying round match against Nxled with heightened urgency on Thursday.
Determined to avoid the same fate, the Cool Smashers applied the lessons from their previous match and dismantled the Chameleons in straight sets, 25-18, 25-17, 25-17, in the 2024-25 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at Philsports Arena.
Team captain Alyssa Valdez admitted that Galeries Tower’s stunning victory over the HD Spikers served as a wake-up call, pushing them to stay locked in from the opening serve to the final point.
“(It was) very much important. I think we want to take that situation as well to have extra focus and motivation to stay aggressive and stay on our target this game, dahil sa nangyari sa kanila,” said the three-time league MVP.
Tenth-seeded Galeries, which had managed just one win in the preliminaries, came out firing against third-seeded Cignal, pulling off a historic 25-17, 25-22, 19-25, 25-19 victory to clinch its first-ever playoff appearance. The upset set the tone for the four-game qualifying round, proving that no team is safe, regardless of seeding.
(C) PVL Images
For Valdez and the rest of Creamline, witnessing one of the league’s biggest surprises reinforced the reality that every squad is capable of pulling off an upset when given the opportunity—especially with the stakes at their highest.
Beyond the stunning result, the 31-year-old outside hitter explained that the team was also driven by the new format, where losing teams in the qualifying round drop to the play-in phase, fighting for the last two quarterfinal spots—something Creamline was determined to avoid.
“If not, I mean, we took it as a challenge din ‘yung format, nakakakaba din talaga,” said Valdez.
“Knowing na one game lang talaga na pwede ka umangat. So we took it as a challenge and a privilege talaga, kaya naman extra extra aggressive and focused on this match.”
Almost every Cool Smasher contributed to the win, with 10 players scoring at least three points.
Middle blocker Bea De Leon led the charge with 12 points, followed by Tots Carlos with nine. Jeanette Panaga and Michelle Gumabao chipped in seven each, while Valdez, Rose Vargas, Bernadeth Pons, and Jema Galanza all added four points apiece. Lorie Bernardo also made her presence felt with three points.
“Well, very proud. (We’ve) been working really hard during practices. We’ve been putting in the work in our practices,” Valdez said.
With the win, Creamline kept itself in a strong position in the qualifying round, avoiding early danger and reinforcing its status as a title contender.
