Creamline shifts into championship gear with 11th PVL title on the horizon

Heading into 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference Finals, the Cignal Super Spikers had gotten the better of the Creamline Cool Smashers in two out of their three previous meetings this year, with all games being contested tightly.

Unfazed by the precedent that was set in this conference, Creamline exemplified its championship experience in game one of the finals, finishing off Cignal in straight sets.

For veteran and mainstay Creamline player Jema Galanza, the motivation to shift into a higher gear was simple yet meaningful: to not let all their efforts go to waste and help her squad win its 11th league title.

“‘Yung mga gantong games, minsan lang mangyari sa life natin,” said Galanza, who notched Player of the Game honors by producing a game-high 17 points on 16 attacks.

“Pag mga gantong laro, talaga gina-grab namin…Iisipin mo din ‘yung mga pinaghirapan niyo nung kabuuan ng season, ‘yung pagod. So kami, pagdating sa mga ganito, patuloy na talagang bibigay namin ‘yung 200% ng bawa’t isa…and mag-remind sa isa’t isa na matatapos namin ‘to ng sama-sama kami,” she added.

(These kinds of games rarely come in our lives, so we really grab hold of these games. You’ll think about all the work you put in through the whole season. So when it comes, every one of us will continue to give 200% and remind each other, we can finish this together.)

Familiar with games that involve high stakes, Cool Smashers head coach Sherwin Meneses reflected on the advantage of being championship tested while also acknowledging the uniqueness of each title run.

“Iba-iba ‘yung situation. Lahat naman gusto manalo. Ibinigay samin ‘yung experience na ‘yun, so dapat magamit namin dito sa bago kasi syempre past na ‘yung champion, so eto ‘yung bago, eto ‘yung dapat naming paghandaan,” said Meneses.

(Every situation is different. Everyone wants to win. We were blessed with that experience, so we should be able to use it in this new situation. Us being champions, that’s in the past, so this is new and this is what we have to prepare for.)

Carrying high hopes of closing the series on Thursday and heading into a single day’s rest, Coach Meneses and star hitter Bernadeth Pons asserted that the Cool Smashers will not take its foot off the gas against a determined Cignal team.

“Hindi namin masyadong iisipin na one win away na lang. Kailangan talagang tatrabahuin namin nang husto kasi alam namin na hindi ‘yan basta-bastang ibibigay,” said Pons.

“Magiging mindset talaga namin na hindi kami maging complacent coming into game two…Kung mahaba pasensya namin this game, mas hahabaan pa namin sa susunod,” she added.

(We’re not going to think about how we’re just one game away. We are going to have to work hard for this because we know it won’t be given easily… Our mindset will be that we can’t be complacent coming into game two… If it seemed like we had a lot of patience in this game, we’ll have a lot more in the next one.)

“Trabahuin namin bukas ang mga lapses namin, and back to square one na naman. Kasi ang Cignal hindi naman bibitaw yan, kaya nga nasa finals sila. So hindi kami pwedeng mag kampante,” voiced Meneses.

(We’ll work on our lapses tomorrow in practice and we’ll go back to square one because we know Cignal is not going to give up, that’s why they’re in the finals.)

—JMB, GMA News