Creamline’s Jia De Guzman. PVL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Jia De Guzman is determined to slay the ghost of their past as the Creamline Cool Smashers inched closer to the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Open Conference crown.
De Guzman delivered 39 excellent sets and led the team’s frontline with three blocks as Creamline drew first blood in the best-of-three Finals series with a 25-16, 23-25, 25-12, 32-30 victory over Petro Gazz on Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
The Cool Smashers, who remained unbeaten in seven games, try to complete a tournament sweep for their fourth PVL title in Game 2 on Friday at Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo.
But the three-time PVL Finals MVP stressed the series is not yet over, reiterating what happened last season when Creamline took Game 1 but dropped the last two games to Chery Tiggo.
“Coming into this conference, we had a lot of lessons and we learned from the last conference. That’s what happened last year, we’re close to the title but we lost our chance,” said De Guzman.
“Those are experiences that we want to learn from and we don’t have to repeat this conference,” she added.
Aside from last year’s setback, the Cool Smashers are also looking to create great memories in Antipolo, where they lost to the Angels in the 2019 Reinforced Conference.
“It’s in an arena that we had a not so good experience also before but that’s an experience we learned from and hopefully we will bring out our best next game,” De Guzman said. “This is the third time that we’ve played (Petro Gazz) in the Finals. We also played before in the eliminations. It boils down to the smallest of errors. It has to be perfect volleyball going to the Finals. That’s what we have to work on in the next game.”
‘GIFTED CHLD’
Coach Sherwin Meneses credited their Game 1 win to the multi-titled setter after she paced Alyssa Valdez and Tots’s Carlos combined 52 points. Jema Galanza and Jeanette Panaga had 17 and 13 markers, respectively.
“Either good or bad receptions, Jia still manages to set up a good play. Credit also to our receivers, especially our libero Kyla Atienza. Jia is really a gifted child. She can control the receiver,” Meneses said.
The former Ateneo star said she and back-up setter Kyle Negrito are just making the most of their talent-rich spikers’ rotation.
And she knows they can still do better next game.
“Kyle and I, as setters of Creamline, we know how deep our lineup is in terms of spikers,” De Guzman said. “We could do better next game and that’s something we have to prepare tomorrow.”