The PVL club team won the Invitational Conference championship on August 14 by dominating the top local teams and the visiting KingWhale Taipei team.

The Creamline Cool Smashers experienced genuine success in its true sense, for the month of August. Truly successful indeed, despite seeming so otherwise.

The Cool Smashers then heeded the call of duty to represent the Philippines in the AVC Cup for Women here in Pasig City immediately following their moment of glory. 

However, tragedy struck when Creamline’s health issues caused a setback.

Alyssa Valdez, the tournament’s MVP, and middle blocker Risa Sato were compelled to withdraw due to dengue sickness and medical issues, respectively. 

Due to illness, both setter Jia De Guzman and head coach Sherwin Meneses were absent from Creamline-Philippines’ opening match against Vietnam. 

Despite everything, the Nationals still finished sixth in the AVC Cup, which was rather a record breaking result for the nation. This was not a failure in any way or form.

De Guzman, who was the captain of the Philippines in the tourney shares: “Very proud talaga ko sa teammates ko kasi hindi talaga biro yung pinagdaanan namin na tuluy-tuloy yung mga laro namin sa PVL, binuhos talaga lahat namin doon, and then late notice nga namin nalaman na we were going to step up for the Philippines in the AVC.”

(I’m really proud of my teammates because what we went through was not a joke. We played continuously in the PVL, we really poured everything out there, and then we found out late that we were going to step up for the Philippines in the AVC.)

“But, everyone was willing to do so. We had to sacrifice a lot of vacations, a lot of family time, so very happy kami sa mga panalong nakuha namin, sa mga natutunan namin. Yun nga lang, what coach said, baka lang na-improve pa lalo. Maraming what-ifs ang pwede sanang mangyari if you know … maraming nangyari,” she continues to say.

(But, everyone was willing to do so. We had to sacrifice a lot of vacations, a lot of family time, so we are very happy with the wins we got, with the things we learned. That’s all, what coach said, maybe improved even more. A lot of what-ifs could have happened if you knew… a lot happened.)

The six-time PVL Best Setter made a suggestion for the improvement of Philippine volleyball as a whole in light of the recent success of the Cool Smashers and the Philippines as well. 

They will then compete in the 2022 ASEAN Grand Prix in Thailand from September 9 to 11. “At the end of the day sixth place — that’s something to be proud of pa rin. That’s still a big improvement. And hopefully, mas angat talaga dito is long-term preparation, long-term system, yun talaga ang magpapa-angat sa Philippine volleyball,” the grateful athlete expresses proudly of the PVL PH team and Creamline Cool Smashers that composed most of the delegate team to the AVC.

The Cool Smashers are definitely enjoying the successful fruits of their hard labor of blood sweat and tears as the 2022 Champions of the Premier Volleyball League(PVL), and strong hearted flag bearers of the Philippines at the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Cup 2022.

Looking back at the team’s recent successes

PVL Cup 2022

July 12, 2022 Game Results

Creamline def. Petro Gazz, 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 25-20)

July 16, 2022 Game Results

Creamline def. PLDT, 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-21)

July 23, 2022 Game Results

Creamline def. Choco Mucho, 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-22)

July 28, 2022 Game Results

Creamline def. Chery, 3-1 (25-14, 25-20, 21-25, 28-26)

July 30, 2022 Game Results

Creamline def. Army, 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-16)

PVL SEMI FINALS

August 4, 2022 Game Results

Creamline def. Army, 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 25-17)

August 6, 2022 Game Results

Creamline def. PLDT, 3-2 (22-25, 25-27, 25-21, 25-19, 15-12)

August 8, 2022 Game Results

Creamline def. Cignal, 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-22)

FINALS


August 14, 2022 Game Result

Creamline def. KingWhale Taipei, 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-8)

**FOR GOLD

AVC CUP 2022

Aug 24, 2022 Creamline def. Iran, 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 20-25, 25-14)

Aug 25, 2022 Creamline def. South Korea, 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-17)

Aug 28, 2022 Creamline def. Australia, 3-2 (21-25, 25-19, 19-25, 25-18, 15-12)

**Creamline x PH team finishes 6th