For the first time in a long while, the Creamline Cool Smashers, the Premier Volleyball League’s dynastic champions, will come in as the underdogs entering the All-Filipino Conference semifinals unfolding Tuesday at the PhilSports Arena.
But it will be a folly to count the seven-time league champion out.
Creamline, which is making a record 14th straight postseason appearance, should continue to rely on its vast playoff phase experience as it clashes with sister team Choco Mucho in Tuesday’s start of the single-round robin format semis unfurling at 4 p.m.
Forget about the proud franchise’s surprisingly forgettable performance in the elimination round where it wound up as the fourth and last-seeded team among the semis entrants — the club’s worst since winding up fifth in its maiden conference seven years ago when the league employed a quarterfinal playoff format back then.
Petro Gazz, Choco Mucho and Chery Tiggo all wound up with identical 9-2 cards, with the Angels taking the top seeding and the Flying Titans and the Crossovers the second and third spots, respectively.
