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When people ask about "hard" titles and which championships are "worth the most", it’s hard to argue against this latest one, our 8th. The Cool Smashers certainly took the road less traveled this conference. The team’s improbable run was littered with ominous firsts: first 3-game loss record in the elims since 2019; first-time losses to PLDT then Choco Mucho (and back-to-back at that); first time to enter the semis as the 4th seed. While other teams have slowly built up their line-ups, the team remained stubbornly loyal to its maturing championship core despite some key changes. No other PVL title run in the team’s history compares to all the doubts and difficulties we experienced during this one. The so-called experts once again gave us no chance. The calculators came out for us to even reach the semis. The thing is there are few teams that have defied the odds and silenced the bashers more than Creamline. Reports of our demise were premature and have been greatly exaggerated. They may not necessarily be the youngest and freshest of players, but from the top of the roster to the bottom, the team knows exactly how to work together, no matter which six players are on the court. The next woman up mentality was evident the whole conference, with the bench taking up the slack when one or two of the first 7 were off. This goes to show that this team is truly something special and was assembled to be a family more than just a group of talented players. Creamline wasn’t the best team in the PVL this conference. Trust me, I know that it’s time to restock; but for this conference at least, we still did have the perfect set of players for our coaches’ system. They battled thru all the doubts and never gave up, which makes this championship run even sweeter. In the end, the immortal words of NBA HOF Coach Rudy Tomjanovich never rang truer: “Never underestimate the heart of a Champion!” Never been prouder of all you, guys.🩷