Creamline adds more feathers to its already heavy cap after copping the Team of the Year and Coach of the Year honors to be given in the first-ever Pilipinas Live PVL Press Corps Awards Night on May 28 at the Novotel Manila Araneta City in Quezon City.
Displaying excellence in amassing 176 wins in 216 all-time league matches, the Cool Smashers built and upheld a winning culture over the last eight years.
Creamline highlighted its dominance by becoming the PVL’s first grand slam champion after sweeping all three conferences of the 2024 PVL season.
The 10-time PVL champions earned the special nod in the inaugural awards night presented by Arena Plus after garnering 13.6 points in the poll, 10.8 of which came from the media and 2.8 from teams.
Petro Gazz came in second with 9.4 votes from 3.0 media votes and 6.4 team votes after foiling Creamline’s All-Filipino Conference five-peat bid last April.
Doubt clouded the Cool Smashers’ grand slam bid with the star trio of Alyssa Valdez and Tots Carlos, coming off injuries, and Jema Galanza, unavailable for most of the season due to national team duties, taking the backseat.
In their absence, an unlikely hero in 24-year-old American import and pro league debutant Erica Staunton took over alongside a new MVP trio in Bernadeth Pons, Michele Gumabao and Kyle Negrito to complete the championship treble.
The Cool Smashers’ dominant year was also highlighted by their 19-game win streak, which spanned from the 2024 Reinforced Conference to the tail-end of the 2024-25 PVL AFC, marking the second-longest unbeaten run in league history.
Creamline, however, did have its fair share of struggles and suffered a stinging championship loss to Petro Gazz in three games, ending their hopes of extending their all-local reign.
But when push came to shove, it’s eight years of unmatched chemistry as a battle-tested family still stood firm even in rare times of defeat.
As such, grizzled tactician Sherwin Meneses, architect of the Cool Smashers’ blazing run, will also be honored as the league’s Coach of the Year.
The 42-year-old mentor did what only four other coaches in all of Philippine sports have done in half a century — win a grand slam.
Meneses won the top coaching plum with 11 points built from 7.8 media votes and 3.2 team votes.
Petro Gazz’s champion shot-caller Japanese Koji Tsuzurabara ranked second with 9.6 points on an even split of 4.8 media votes and 4.8 team votes.
His compatriot Taka Minowa of Akari received 2.4 points, also split into 1.2 media votes and 1.2 team votes, to finish third in the vote.
Under his steady leadership, the Cool Smashers continue to thrive on a selfless, winning culture — no egos, just their signature ‘good vibes’ on display.
Meneses overcame the challenge of extending Creamline’s title reign without its biggest stars to win the Grand Slam and his seventh PVL title at the helm.
He also cemented his stature as the league’s most decorated head coach in just three years by becoming its first centurion, reaching the 100-win mark in a straight-sets victory over Chery Tiggo in Game 1 of the recent AFC quarterfinals.
Sporting a 104-18 win-loss record with a win rate of 85.25 percent, Meneses’ feat stands second to none among the 45 coaches to have ever called the shots in the country’s first and only women’s professional volleyball league.
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