Creamline head coach Sherwin Meneses is not worried about the possible implications their back-to-back five-set wins in the Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference semifinals.
Sporting a 3-0 win-loss semis carryover record, the unbeaten Cool Smashers are now inches away from clinching a finals seat.
But nothing is definite at the moment as Creamline had just earned just seven points out of a possible nine following consecutive five-setter victories.
With that, Creamline has to win at least one of its next two games against foreign guest teams Kurashiki Ablaze of Japan and Vietnam’s Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh to secure a finals seat.
Two losses might complicate things especially if there will be a possible tie in the top two after the round robin semis that would need to be decided via FIVB tiebreak.
Creamline is no stranger to this scenario.
Last year, the Cool Smashers fell victim to a tiebreaker that booted them out of the finals race of the 2022 Reinforced Conference.
Still, Meneses remains unfazed and confident that his wards won’t let a return ticket to the gold medal match slip out of their hands.
“Yes, we know that very well. Whatever the result is, we’ll play with our 100 percent. Whatever result we get just like in the previous conference, we’ll accept it,” Meneses said.
“But of course, it’s reassuring that right now we already have a 3-0 record in the semifinals. If we win one more then we’ll be in the finals. What is important is that we get the win.”
The Cool Smashers behind their triple guns of reigning Most Valuable Player Tots Carlos, Alyssa Valdez and Jema Galanza starred in their marathon victories.
Creamline fought F2 Logistics tooth and nail to walk away with a 12-25, 25-15, 23-25, 30-28, 15-7, last Thursday before beating Cignal by the skin of its teeth, 23-25 25-16, 25-21, 24-26, 15-10, last Saturday.
“Creamline is proven in
five-setter games. Whatever the result will be, the team will play all out. Good thing we’re getting the wins. That’s twice already. That puts us in a situation where we are getting closer to the finals,” Meneses said, adding that they are prepared for a grueling tournament.
“We saw the schedule before the start of the tournament and we’ve readied the team for that situation. We adjusted our training and schedule.”
“Well, all teams are playing in the same schedule so there’s really no advantage or disadvantage. But for us, we’re ready.”
Creamline takes on Kinh
Bac-bac Ninh today before wrapping up its semis campaign on Friday against Kurashiki Ablaze.
