Tots Carlos, Creamline go back to championship mindset en route to PVL Finals
Tots Carlos and her team, the Creamline Photo from PVL Media Bureau
MANILA –If Creamline has an advantage over other teams, it is their championship experience.
And when their backs were against the wall — remember, the Cool Smashers (8-3) nearly faced elimination in the preliminaries as they edged PLDT (also with an 8-3 record) by only a point for a Final Four spot — star spiker Tots Carlos said they turned back to their championship mindset en route to the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference Finals.
The Cool Smashers also absorbed a five-set loss at the hands of their sister team Choco Mucho in the semifinal round.
“It’s like that’s where our mindset goes everyday, which is a champion mindset. Coach [Sherwin Meneses] said, we can’t control all situations, so it won’t be perfect or it won’t always be in my favor,” the three-time league Most Valuable Player (MVP) said after ousting Chery Tiggo in straight sets, 25-16, 25-21, 25-20, in the semis on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.
“If there are times when the situation is not in my favor, the only thing we can do is fight the situation,” she said further.
Creamline is the PVL’s winningest club with seven total titles captured since 2017 and has never fell to a fourth-place finish and beyond.
The Cool Smashers’ resiliency has also been a key for them, said Carlos.
“It’s fun when we win, but when we don’t win, we know [where] we’re lacking. We know that each one of us will recover, so I think that’s the good thing about us that we weren’t porket champions last season , we expect our season to be good,” Carlos underscored.
The defending champions are now setting their sights to yet another crown in the PVL against the Flying Titans, who snatched the second finals berth Sunday when they won against Petro Gazz, 23-25, 26-24, 25-19, 25-20, at the Big Dome to conclude the double-header.
“Honestly, we had a good season because even though we lost, we are here now in the championship so we are happy with what happened. Is it the process we always say, because that is the most important thing, the championship is the our prize,” said Carlos.
The Finals starts Thursday at the same Quezon City stadium.
First serve is at 6 p.m.