Creamline brings out broom
Games today: (Smart Araneta Coliseum) 4 p.m. — Petro Gazz vs Chery Tiggo 6 p.m — Creamline vs Choco Mucho
Defending champion Creamline shoots for a sweep Sunday when it faces Choco Mucho in Game 2 of their best-of-three title showdown in the 2024 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Energized by their 24-26, 25-20, 25-21, 25-16 win over the Flying Titans in the series opener, the Cool Smashers attempt to wrap it all up beginning at 6 p.m. with another huge crowd in attendance.
Creamline is favored to retain the crown and bag its third straight AFC plum in its 11th consecutive finals appearance given their wealth of experience and crystal-clear advantage in manpower.
But still, had coach Sherwin Meneses remains wary of Choco Mucho, a team that is very much capable of freezing the series at 1-all.
“The battle isn’t over yet. It’s just 1-0. We need to secure two wins, so there’s really no reason to celebrate just yet,” said Meneses, who will turn to Tots Carlos and Jema Galanza for instant offense and a potent supporting cast that can stand its ground even against a rival team’s finest frontline.
“It’s important that we got Game 1, but we need to buckle down and focus on the next game,” added Meneses, knowing giving the Flying Titans a chance at sending the title match into a decider is extremely dangerous.
Tops on Creamlines’ bevy of concern is the duo of Sisi Rondina and Royse Tubino as well as Choco Mucho’s equally-talented backup crew composed of Isa Molde, Maddie Madayag and Maika Ortiz.
“We lacked when it comes to end-game, because every set, we saw that we were not the ones chasing them in a fast-paced manner but we established a lead over them before we had problems,” Choco Mucho head coach Dante Alinsunurin said.
“We had match-ups that we weren’t able to maximize. So, those are what we learned, that at the end of the game, we should maintain our momentum so we can get a win.”
In the first game at 4 p.m., Brooke Van Sickle, MJ Phillips, Jonah Sabete and the rest of the Angels hope to run away with the bronze medal with a dominant finish after barely escaping Chery Tiggo, 22-25, 25-12, 25-18, 27-29, 15-12, on Thursday.