SISTER teams Creamline Cool Smashers and Choco Mucho Flying Titans hope to ride on a pair of straight-set triumphs to snatch second straight wins and a continued share of the lead as they tangle with separate rivals in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the Filoil Ecooil Center in San Juan City on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023.
The Cool Smashers face the Cignal HD Spikers at 4 p.m. while the Flying Titans slug it out with the Petro Gazz Angels in the 6:30 p.m. main game.
The crowd favorites hardly missed the services of recuperating skipper and top hitter Alyssa Valdez in dismantling the Angels, 25-18, 25-20, 25-22, to kick off their title-retention drive at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Feb. 4.
Michele Gumabao, back on the starting roster in the absence of Valdez and following the import-laced Reinforced Conference, and middle-blocker Ced Domingo shone with 13-point outputs while the heavy-handed Tots Carlos added 11 markers and Pangs Panaga chipped in 10 points to lead the Cool Smashers’ assault.
Jema Galanza, a key figure in Creamline’s two-conference title run last year, took the backseat this time and settled for six points, leaving much of the scoring load for Gumabao and Carlos.
But the former Adamson stalwart is expected to play a big role in their clash with the HD Spikers, who are reeling from a shutout loss to the resurgent Chery Tiggo Crossovers the other night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
But expect Cignal to strike back with seasoned campaigners Ces Molina, Riri Meneses, Rachel Anne Daquis, Chin Basas, Roselyn Doria and setter Gel Cayuna out to raise the level of their respective games a notch higher and avoid going 0-2 in a single round robin elims among nine teams.
The Flying Titans, on the other hand, proved too much for the Akari Chargers, scoring a 25-15, 25-20, 25-20 win, despite the presence of Dindin Manabat, who joined the league’s newest team along with Joy Soyud, Camille Victoria and top libero Bang Pineda during the off-season.