By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Creamline Cool Smashers treated its Ilonggo fans with a brilliant display of volleyball after taking down the Akari Power Chargers, 25-17, 25-22, 27-29, 25-8, to grab the top seed in the ongoing Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference last March 14, 2023, held at the University of San Agustin Gym in Iloilo City.
Almost seven thousand Ilonggo volleyball fans flocked to the University of San Agustin to witness their long-time idols in a PVL road game double-header schedule.
With the top seed at stake, the Cool Smashers gave their all and pulled off another masterful performance to end the elimination phase with only a loss out of eight total games.
Fan favorite and volleyball veteran superstar Jia Morado-De Guzman showed her entire facilitating arsenal after dishing out 22 excellent sets for the Cool Smashers.
Aside from the jaw-dropping spike kills, the national team staple wowed the crowd with her variety of ways on how to set the ball to Creamline’s outside spikers.
From her signature one-handed sets to surprising cross-court angle deliveries, De Guzman served Akari one of her most flawless distribution clinics in the professional league.
Michele Gumabao became the recipient of most of De Guzman’s fantastic sets and tallied a game-high 19-point production built from 17 successful attacks.
Gumabao was all over the court punishing Akari with her strong spikes and was the one who spearheaded their first set offensive rally.
Jema Galanza also provided some scoring spark and backstopped Gumabao with 17 points while former MVP Tots Carlos added 16 markers and 12 excellent digs.
“Marami pa kaming kailagan i-improve pagdating ng semifinals. Consistency, napaka-importante ng every point. Kaya kailangan naming mag-focus sa kada point, kasi kita niyo naman nung third set, medyo hindi maganda yung nilaro naming,” said Creamline head coach Sherwin Meneses.
Meanwhile, in the other scheduled game, the Petro Gazz Angels handled the Chery Tiggo Pro Crossovers, 25-21, 28-26, 25-21, to take the last Final Four spot.
