By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
This year, the Creamline Cool Smashers showed why they are arguably the best ever volleyball club in the country.
The dynasty they are building in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) is as imposing as Eiffel Tower of Paris – not to mention their ever growing legion of fans.
Their latest achievement – their 2nd for the season and 7th overall PVL title – was doubly special.
Their first title of the season was already impressive as the Cool Smashers had to dig deeper into their bag of tricks before pulling off a 20-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-15 win over the Petro Gazz Angels in the deciding Game 3 of the First All-Filipino Conference in February.
They firmed up their status as the premier volleyball club with their dominant title run in the Second All-Filipino Conference last December.
Despite winning the championship undefeated, the Cool Smashers encountered tremendous pressure against their sister team – the Choco Mucho Flying Titans – before carving out a 22-25, 25-20, 29-27, 24-26, 15-12 to complete a grand sweep of the title before a record crowd.
“Jam-packed” was an understatement as that specific match – Game 2 of the best-of-three title series – drew an all-time attendance record for volleyball in the country at 24,459.
It shattered the seven-year-old record held by Ateneo and La Salle’s winner-take-all title match in the UAAP Season 78 women’s volleyball finals.
The only title that they missed was the Invitational Conference that saw them finish only third. The tournament was won by a Japanese team Kurashiki Ablaze who beat them in a knockout match, 25-19, 23-25, 19-25, 25-20, 15-13.
Behind the action saw the departure of several players to compete abroad, more notably Jia De Guzman and Ced Domingo of Creamline.
The versatile setter De Guzman signed with the Denso Airybees of the Japan V. League Division 1, while Domingo was recruited by the Nakhon Ratchasima Women’s Club in Thailand.
In the men’s side, Cignal and Sta Elena-National University also shone this year with title wins in the Spiker’s Turf Open and Invitational Conferences, respectively, this year.
It started and ended without much fanfare compared to the women’s league, but the Spikers’ Turf is the answer to the clamor for exposures for male volleyball players — proof that volleyball is on the rise.
