Creamline hopes to celebrate a rare Grand Slam this season. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ
Creamline’s date with destiny gets an answer on Thursday when the Cool Smashers try to complete what would just be the first Grand Slam in Premier Volleyball League (PVL) history.
Or, it can also be that the Cool Smashers will fail to achieve that for the third time in their glorious history.
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No team has even come close to completing a season sweep, but Creamline has been able to do it in each of the last two seasons, only to falter in the last conference.
In 2022, the Cool Smashers missed making the finals of the Reinforced Conference when Cignal shut the door on them with a crucial semifinal victory. A year later, the Kurashiki Ablaze from Japan denied them in the title series of the Invitational Conference.
Exorcising a ghost
Either the Ablaze and the HD Spikers, who are battling it out for the second title game slot at press time, will be standing in the way of the Cool Smashers on Thursday at Smart Araneta Coliseum, and if victorious, Creamline can exorcise one ghost of its two failed Triple Crown bids.
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Jema Galanza, the MVP of the All-Filipino finals, was broken in during a 25-15, 25-13, 25-19 victory over Farm Fresh on Wednesday at PhilSports Arena, as coach Sherwin Meneses adds another layer in his very deep offensive armada heading into the title match.
“As long as coach needs me, I will be ready, mentally and physically,” Galanza, after scoring 13 points, said in Filipino. “I am just so happy being able to return (to Creamline).
“And I don’t think that it will be a big adjustment for me because I know the team’s system very well.”
If at all, Galanza could turn out to be the freshest cog on Meneses’ rotation as Creamline has played four games in the last six days, with that streak starting just after the Cool Smashers had pocketed the Reinforced Conference crown.
Galanza missed helping the Cool Smashers on the road to the title game after fulfilling national team duties. Creamline won the recent Reinforced Conference without the injured Tots Carlos and Alyssa Valdez and earned this grand slam shot without three of its most prolific scorers.
Still the most glamorous team in all of club volleyball in the country, Creamline has now extended its streak of podium finishes to 17. INQ
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