Creamline Cool Smashers’ Alyssa Valdez during a game against Galeries Tower High Risers in the PVL All-Filipino Conference. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
The way Chery Tiggo swept through its play-in group unscathed did not go unnoticed.
“We saw the games [in the play-in phase],” said Creamline captain Alyssa Valdez.
And what the Cool Smashers saw must have impressed them.
After a masterful run last year, a reputation of invincibility grew around Creamline and the Cool Smashers are determined to keep that intact for as long as they can.
They will need it in a season packed with surprises, where their string of championships could be snapped in an instant if they don’t press on every available advantage against the Crossovers in the PVL All-Filipino League All-Filipino Conference quarterfinals clash.
“We’ve been putting in the work in our practices. [W]e must stay aggressive and have extra focus,” Valdez, a three-time league MVP said.
The race-to-two affair kicks off on Tuesday at PhilSports Arena and Chery Tiggo has been trying to peel away the layers of invincibility beginning with their mental approach to the game.
“Everything will be on equal footing,” a defiant Ara Galang said. “Although they [Cool Smashers] are the champions, the previous standings don’t count anymore.”
But even if they can crack that mental edge the Cool Smashers own, the Crossovers still face a monumental task against a team with so much talent that has been playing great volleyball for a sustained period of time.
“We know it won’t be easy because they [Cool Smashers] are loaded with veteran players,” Shaya Adorador said after Chery Tiggo set up the encounter with Creamline following consecutive victories over Nxled and Farm Fresh in the play-in.
Adorador and her teammates don’t have to look far for inspiration to pull off a stunning reversal.
In the other quarterfinal bracket, ZUS Coffee will ride the momentum of surviving its own play-in group against a more veteran Cignal squad and a fellow giant-slayer in Galeries Tower.
The Thunderbelles ace another underdog bid against Petro Gazz brimming with optimism.
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“This is going to be a tough fight for us. But everybody wants to be here, so we are giving everything we have,” said Clo Mondoñedo, the team’s heady playmaker who makes hitters Chai Troncoso, Chinnie Arroyo and top rookie pick Thea Gagate look really good. INQ
