Expect another thrilling match when fancied teams Creamline and Petro Gazz clash in Game 1 of their best-of-three championship duel in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Match is set at 6 p.m. with both teams seeking to draw the first blood in their best-of-three finals affair.

In terms of finals preparations, Creamline seemed to have the advantage after sweeping sister team Choco Mucho in their best-of-three semis affair. Petro Gazz, for its part, had to dig deep in ousting Cignal in a do-or-die match just last Monday, 25-21, 28-26, 15-25, 25-21.

Petro Gazz coach Jerry Yee vowed they’re ready despite the challenges.

“We will prepare hard, we will try our best,” he said, noting that they had been doing so from the start after not having enough time to prepare for the conference.

Veteran setter Chie Saet, who was the heart and soul of the team, said their thirst for the title fuels their drive.

“Uhaw kami sa panalo kaya ipapagpatuloy lang namin yung nasimulan namin,” said Saet, whose team rose from a Game 1 semifinal deficit before toppling Cignal.

Yee said they are the underdogs in this matchup, having lost to Creamline in their group stage meeting, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19, 24-25, 15-10, last March 23.

“Creamline is intact, strong and has the chemistry,” said Yee, citing their rival’s awesome firepower anchored on Tots Carlos, Alyssa Valdez and Jema Galanza.

“If (setter) Jia (De Guzman) gets active in the middle, ‘masakit sa ulo.’”

But the Angels are just too primed up, well-motivated to take on the Cool Smashers with Myla Pablo, Grethcel Soltones, Aiza Pontillas, Remy Palma and MJ Phillips fueling their assault.

It would be the third title faceoff for the two teams. The Angels surprised the Cool Smashers to score a PVL breakthrough in the 2019 Reinforced Conference but Creamline quickly got back at the Petro Gazz in the next conference to win the Open crown.

But while Creamline, which previously swept the Reinforced and Open crowns in 2018, would sustain its form to reach another finals in the league’s inaugural pro staging won by Chery Tiggo in Ilocos Norte last year, Petro Gazz would finish third.

For Alyssa Valdez, it would be a different scenario.

“It will be a different finals for us but we hope that we’ll be able to apply all the learnings we had from all the bubble training and bubble setups,” she said.