STILL nursing the sting of a shattered dream in the 2024-25 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference Finals, the Creamline Cool Smashers aren\u2019t wasting any time licking their wounds.<\/p>\n
Instead, they\u2019re turning their pain into purpose as they march head-on into the 2025 AVC Women\u2019s Champions League with a renewed fire.<\/p>\n
After falling short of a historic five-peat and 11th PVL title, the Sherwin Meneses-led squad is shifting gears toward international glory.<\/p>\n
Their next challenge? A daunting Pool A featuring nine-time Kazakhstan Women\u2019s Volleyball League champion Zhetysu VC and one of Jordan’s most storied clubs, Al Naser.<\/p>\n
\u201cKailangan maka-move on agad, especially, may AVC tournament kami. I think yung mga players naman naka-recover naman agad,\u201d said Meneses.<\/p>\n
\u201cMga competitive kasi mga players. Kaya at the end of the day, siguro nag-iisip din yan. Pero, sa ngayon, nakabalik na sila sa kani-kanilang mga bahay. So, hopefully, maka-recover sila. Pero, I think, makaka-recover naman mabilis yung team. Bawi na lang siguro sa ibang conference, especially sa AVC. Laging competitive naman yung Creamline.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holding the fort are the power quartet of Bernadeth Pons, Jema Galanza, Tots Carlos, and Pangs Panaga\u2014players known not just for their scoring prowess but their unshakable grit.<\/p>\n
But the real buzz surrounds their international reinforcements.<\/p>\n
Returning to the fold is none other than 2024 Reinforced Conference MVP Erica Staunton, who played a pivotal role in Creamline\u2019s historic Grand Slam last year.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s joined by two towers in 6-foot middle blocker Anastassiya Kolomoyets and 6-foot-4 outside hitter Anastasya Kudryashova\u2014both of whom previously played together for VC Kuanysh and are all too familiar with their poolmate, Zhetysu VC.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited. I\u2019m excited to play with Creamline again. I love these girls. I love playing with these girls. And then, face some different competitions. So, I\u2019m happy to be back and to get to play some more volleyball. Yeah, I\u2019m really excited,\u201d Staunton shared.<\/p>\n
With Staunton, Kolomoyets, and Kudryashova anchoring the attack, Creamline is poised to unleash a balanced offensive barrage.<\/p>\n
But offense is only part of the puzzle.<\/p>\n
The addition of veteran setter Rhea Villarete could prove to be the X-factor in the Cool Smashers\u2019 continental conquest.<\/p>\n
The former national team playmaker, known for her steady hands and court composure, joins Creamline alongside three-time PVL Best Setter Kyle Negrito to form a potent playmaking duo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
STILL nursing the sting of a shattered dream in the 2024-25 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference Finals, the Creamline Cool Smashers aren\u2019t wasting any time licking their wounds. Instead, they\u2019re turning their pain into purpose as they march head-on into the 2025 AVC Women\u2019s Champions League with a renewed fire. After falling short of a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[269,54],"class_list":["post-2606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-avc","tag-creamline-cool-smashers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2606"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2608,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2606\/revisions\/2608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}