Creamline takes the first of two steps leading to a dream elims sweep and claim to the top Final Four seeding as it collides with ousted Akari on Thursday even as PLDT seeks to keep its slim hopes in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The Cool Smashers outdueled the Chery Tiggo Crossovers in four Tuesday night to stretch their win run to nine with another victory in their 4 p.m. clash with the Chargers netting them the coveted No. 1 spot in the post-elims play of the season-ending conference of the league organized by Sports Vision. They play the winless Galeries Tower Highrisers in the final elims playdate on Tuesday.
While the defending champions remain unblemished, top hitter Jema Galanza insists they are still far from being perfect, emphasizing the need to refine their skills and system heading to the grueling semis battle.
“Palapit ng palamit ang semis, kaya kailangan ma-perfect namin ang mga galaw at mag-focus sa sistema,” said the former Adamson U standout, who marked her 27th birthday Tuesday with a 16-point performance and a best player of the game citation.
But despite being out of the semis race, the 5-5 Chargers vow to exit in style with coach Jorge Souza de Brito expecting no less than the best from starters Dindin Manabat, Faith Nisperos, Erika Raagas and Fifi Sharma.
But with the way the Cool Smashers have been dishing out one big game after another, the Chargers would need to come up not just with a strong offense but more importantly a solid defense upfront in an attempt to slow down the likes of Galanza, the hard-hitting Tots Carlos and the heavy-handed Michele Gumabao.
PLDT, meanwhile, squares off with also-ran F2 Logistics in the 6 p.m. main dish with the High Speed Hitters, at sixth spot with a 5-4 slate, needing not just to win their last two games to stay in the hunt. They must also hope that the fourth-running Cignal HD Spikers (7-3) drop their final game assignment to the winless Gerflor Defenders on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Galeries and Gerflor face off in the 2 p.m. opener with both going all-out to break a nine-game spell and nail their first win in their rookie stint in the league backed by Mikasa, BingoPlus, ArenaPlus, SMART, Rebisco, Milcu, Kumu, Asics and SportRadar.
Games can be streamed on Pilipinas Live and PVL.ph and are telecast on One Sports, One Sports+, and SMART Livestream app.
