Creamline and Petro Gazz add another chapter to a rivalry that, for many, has become a defining feature in Philippine volleyball as the top two clubs face off for the first time in the Premier Volleyball League Second All-Filipino Conference elims at the Philsports Arena in Pasig on Thursday.
The 6 p.m. match carries high stakes – a continued hold of the solo lead or a possible share of it. The Cool Smashers seek to stay unbeaten in five matches and the Angels go for their fifth win in six games.
The much-awaited tussle also caps the first and only four-game bill calendared in the tournament that also includes two of the league’s fancied teams looking to strengthen their chances in the season-ending conference of the league organized by Sports Vision and backed by Mikasa, BingoPlus, ArenaPlus, SMART, Rebisco, Milcu, Kumu, Asics, and SportRadar.
PLDT, on a four-game roll since dropping a four-setter to Cignal last Oct. 15, tangles with winless Galeries at 2 p.m. while Chery Tiggo, also toting a 4-1 slate, squares off with a skidding Nxled side at 4 p.m.
F2 Logistics, dragged into a five-set duel by Farm Fresh last Tuesday, hopes to come out fresh and get better in chase of another crucial win against Galeries, also winless in five games, in the 12 noon opener.
But all eyes will be on the Creamline-Petro Gazz duel. The Cool Smashers fought back from one game down in a best-of-three series and one set behind in sudden death to snare the first All-Filipino crown last March for the franchise’s sixth championship in six years.
“Yung mga players, deserve muna nila ng pahinga. About Petro Gazz, siguro hindi muna namin ii-stressin ang sarili namin,” said Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses after their four-set win over the Farm Fresh Foxies last Oct. 31.
“Pagbalik naming sa court, saka na namin iisipin kasi kung lagi mong iniisip, baka hindi maganda yung maging laro. Relax lang kasi kahit sino naman makalaban namin, talagang pinaghahandaan namin,” he added.
Though it has swept its first four games in emphatic fashions without two of its former anchors, Creamline braces for a tougher challenge when it collides with a solid Petro Gazz squad firmed up by the entry of Ranya Musa and Kecelyn Galdones.
Grethcel Soltones, Aiza Pontillas, Jonah Sabete, Nicole Tiamzon, playmaker Djanel Cheng and top defender Jellie Tempiatura can’t wait to get going against the Cool Smashers, eager not only to get back at the defending champions but also rebound from their 1-3 defeat to the Chery Tiggo Crossovers last weekend.
Michele Gumabao, who has taken the lead role for Creamline in the early going of the conference, is again tipped to spearhead the Cool Smashers’ charge against the Angels with Jema Galanza and Tots Carlos expected to crank up their respective offensive games along with Bernadette Pons, Rose Vargas, Pangs Panaga and Alyssa Valdez.
Games can be streamed on Pilipinas Live and PVL.ph and are telecast on One Sports, One Sports+, and SMART Livestream app.
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