Gel Cayuna will be vital for Cignal. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ
Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses is taking a far different approach when it comes to his Cool Smashers’ clash with equally hot Cignal Saturday in the PVL Invitational Conference semifinals.
While the HD Spikers’ Shaq delos Santos is leaving no stones unturned preparing for the Cool Smashers for their 4 p.m. game at PhilSports Arena, Meneses’ only concern after a five-set win over F2 Logistics is the rest he feels his charges need.
“We will think of Cignal later on,” Meneses said in Filipino, moments after a 12-25, 25-15, 23-25, 30-28, 15-7 win over the Cargo Movers that raised Creamline’s record to 2-0 in the six-team semis and staying unbeaten in five games overall. “This is such a quick tournament that there’s really no time to prepare [for an opponent].”
“It’s very hard to prepare because we play every other day,” Meneses went on. “The players need the rest before we prepare.”
Delos Santos also on Tuesday said that what he wants is for his HD Spikers to “raise the level” of their game, asking this from a team that has won its last four games in straight sets, counting a 25-22, 25-15, 25-21 destruction of PLDT.
“We cannot be contented, we need to raise the level of our game, especially against Creamline,” Delos Santos had said, also in Filipino. “We still need to do all the hard work, because for sure, our next games will be more difficult.”
F2 and PLDT try to get back on track in the 2 p.m. contest, even as guest teams Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh Women’s of Vietnam and Japan’s Kurashiki Ablaze make their debuts when they tangle in the 6:30 p.m. main game, with both foreign squads taking fine form into the tournament.