Creamline Cool Smashers’ Jema Galanza in the PVL All-Filipino Finals game against Choco Mucho Flying Titans. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Jema Galanza has been with Creamline through the good times and bad. And after clinching an eighth championship, she made her intentions clear.
“I love them (Cool Smashers) and I love volleyball,” Galanza told the Inquirer when asked how she continues to deliver for her squad. “With everything I have experienced, I felt like this is the right time to show how I play in these kinds of games.”
After playing for Adamson during her collegiate days, Galanza took her act professionally to Creamline in 2017 and has helped the Rebisco Corp.-backed franchise become the formidable team it is today.
READ: Jema Galanza named PVL Finals MVP in Creamline’s latest title win
Galanza has shown her worth as a legitimate spiker despite working with the PVL’s brightest stars such as teammates Alyssa Valdez and Tots Carlos, who have both earned three MVP awards each.
In taking down Choco Mucho in the recent All-Filipino Conference Finals, Galanza, who became a league MVP herself in 2019, poured her heart out for Creamline and was hailed as the Finals MVP.
“I challenged myself to play better from semifinals until the Finals,” added Galanza after helping the winningest volleyball club team to its fourth consecutive All-Filipino championship and sixth overall.
Difficult position
Unlike its flawless campaign in the second All-Filipino Conference last year, Creamline had a roller-coaster ride in the previous conference where it saw a 19-game winning streak snapped and at one point looked like it was about to miss the semifinals for the first time.
It was arguably the most difficult position that the Cool Smashers were put in throughout their stay in the league.
READ: As Creamline nears another PVL title, Jema Galanza recalls tough road
“We just talked about our mistakes in those losses and why it happened,” Galanza said. “But we never reached the point where we doubted each other.”
And it clearly worked for Creamline. After being in an unfamiliar territory, the Cool Smashers reminded everyone that it is still the queens of the local scene and continue to be a riddle that the Flying Titans, who have been doing well in the last two conferences, could not solve.