PVL: Crucial clash for box-office draws Creamline, Choco Mucho

Choco Mucho and Creamline collide on Thursday in another expected hit at the box-office—like all of their past matches—and with stakes as high as a championship itself.

The last time these two teams met was in the title series of the last All-Filipino Conference of the Premier Volleyball League, but with the standings muddled up after the Tuesday night playdate, the league-leading Flying Titans would want nothing less than a win in their 6 p.m. clash with the defending champion Cool Smashers to become the first team in the semifinals.

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Creamline is tied for second spot with Petro Gazz, PLDT and Chery Tiggo, and a slip-up could be costly. Not only have the Cool Smashers not lost three games in a conference in recent memory, a defeat would put them in a veritable bubble for the playoffs, something unheard of in past seasons.

SCHEDULE: PVL All-Filipino Conference 2024

As things stand, the Angels and the Crossovers will be ending their classification round schedules against ousted foes, while Creamline, after this match with Choco Mucho, is still slated to slug it out with the High Speed Hitters, which could be that match for survival for the Cool Smashers.

Experience, though, is at the side of the Cool Smashers, who have won a total of seven championships, while the Flying Titans are working to return to the Finals for the second straight time and win their first.

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Complicating the race

Meanwhile, the complications in the race for the semifinals was forged with a 25-22, 25-16, 25-20 victory of the Crossovers over the High Speed Hitters on Tuesday night, where Eya Laure was adjudged the Best Player of the Game (POG).

She was quick to credit her team for the honor.

“I can’t be the Player of the Game without my teammates,” Laure said in Filipino after starring in the victory with 12 points as her sister EJ supported her once more with 10 points.

“Sometimes I doubt if I am still really the [POG] because anyone of us can be considered because we are winning with teamwork, not just because of an individual,” Eya added.

READ: Creamline is probably most scouted PVL team

What was expected to be a slugfest turned into a lopsided triumph for the Crossovers, who will seek a Final Four slot against eliminated squads Akari and Galeries Tower.

“We go back to work. We will focus on the things that we can control and not think of the things that we can’t because it will not help us,” Eya said, referring to the Creamline-Choco Mucho match that will definitely affect the semifinal race.

“Teamwork will be our capital,” team captain Aby Maraño said. “We were really consistent in reminding each and everyone on the team that that will be the recipe we need in every single game that we’re going to play.”

Meanwhile, eliminated Farm Fresh tries to have a better result than its first two conferences in the 4 p.m. contest as the Foxies look to secure their third win in facing cellar dweller Strong Group.