MANILA, Philippines – On Thursday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino elimination rounds, Creamline is focused on its match against Gerflor while Akari tries to capitalize on a franchise-best start and Cignal and Choco Mucho square off.

The Cool Smashers defeated two title contenders last week, the Choco Mucho Flying Titans and the Cignal HD Spikers, demonstrating that they were still ready to defend the championship despite the absence of two of their former key players.

In front of a large crowd of over 4,000 people at the Batangas City Sports Coliseum, this led to a 25 to 20, 25 to 20, 25 to 16 victory that gave them a share of the early lead with the Petro Gazz Angels.

But even though the Defenders are predicted to lose to them at 2:30 p.m., Meneses continues to be cautious when dealing with one of the four rookie teams in the record-breaking 12-team fold.

The Defenders suffered two straight-set losses to the Nxled Chameleons have and the power source Petro Gazz Angels, disposing of coach Sammy Acaylar with the enormous task of inspiring and pushing his team, led by Grace Berteto, Menchie Tubiera, Pia Sarmiento, Lhara Clavano, and Danika Gendrauli, to compete against players like Michele Gumabao, Tots Carlos, and Jema Galanza.

In their 4 p.m. matchup, the Chargers are expected to easily defeat the Foxies. clash after the former defeated the previously unbeaten Chery Tiggo Crossovers, 25 to 20, 18 to 25, 25 to 22, 25 to 20, late Tuesday. With a record of 2 to 1, the former is now tied for third place with the PLDT High Speed Hitters and the Crossovers in the tournament, which is being run by Sports Vision and supported by Mikasa, BingoPlus, ArenaPlus, SMART, Rebisco, Milcu, Kumu, Asics, and SportRadar.

That included a stunning five-set victory over the F2 Logistics Cargo Movers last week as the substantially enhanced method Chargers, who suffered a three-set loss to the High Speed Hitters last Thursday, entered the match with the intention of taking sole possession of third place against a group that had dropped the inaugural three games without prevailing a set.

Although Kate Santiago, Trisha Tubu, Alyssa Bertolano, Justine Dorog, skipper Louie Romero, Sofia Ildefonso, Jhasmin Pascual, and Aprylle Tagsip will need to make up a lot of ground to be competitive against the energized Chargers, Farm Fresh coach Jerry Yee is optimistic that his charges will calm down in time and make even a small breakthrough.

Three out matches into the round robin eliminations, the California Chargers have responded to coach Jorge Brito’s calls with playmakers Jaja Maraguinot, Dindin Manabat, Faith Nisperos, Trisha Genesis, Ezra Madrigal, Erika Raagas, and others, and have left quite an impression.

6pm The main game has a lot of potential as well, with the HD Spikers and the Flying Titans both coming off different stints and eager to join the High Speed Hitters and the Crossovers at 2 to 1. While Choco Mucho has triumphed over Farm Fresh after losing to the defending champion, Cignal is reeling from a 0 to 3 loss to Creamline after a four-set victory over PLDT.