For their 10th head-to-head match, Creamline came out the better side in their finals sister act. 

The defending champions Cool Smashers captured their third straight All-Filipino title in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) with a thrilling 22-25, 25-20, 29-27, 24-26, 15-12 win over the Choco Mucho Flying Titans on Saturday, Dec. 16, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. 

Setting the new record PVL crowd, the Cool Smashers took down finals debutant Choco Mucho before the 24,459 fans, smashing their last year’s mark of 19,157. 

Creamline recovered from a first-set hiccup with a hard-fought win in the best-of-three finals series for its seventh title overall. 

Shorthanded and all after losing star setter Jia Morado and middle blocker Ced Domingo to neighboring overseas leagues, the championship win marked the third time the Cool Smashers went all the way through the title undefeated, having previously enjoyed the same feat in the 2019 and 2022 Open Conferences. 

Tots Carlos posted a team-high 26 points on 26 kills, while Jema Galanza delivered an all-around display of 21 markers to go with it. 

Bernadeth Pons and Jeannette Panaga contributed 14 and 11 points to help in the series sweep. 

The club overcame a first-set loss before equalizing and going for the kill in the sets that followed. 

After being dragged into an extended Game 2 encounter, Creamline banked on its championship experience and showed steely nerves in the fifth set where they even trailed Choco Mucho, 6-3. 

The most pivotal moment of the match, though, came in the third set with Creamline ahead by three, 23-20, as Choco Mucho went on a 3-0 counter run to knot the game at 23-all. 

However, the wounded but hopeful Flying Titans’ momentum was crucially stalled as the following point was called a dead ball and a replay was decided. 

Both squads engaged in a closely-contested third-set affair for four more deadlocks before Carlos and Pons gave Creamline the 2-1 set lead. 

Alyssa Valdez, who fired back-to-back points in the decider set, hammered home the championship point off a crosscourt shot to eventually finish with eight points. 

Creamline, in turn, also spoiled Sisi Rondina’s 33-point finals record explosion for the Flying Titans. 

Maddie Madayag and Kat Tolentino had a combined 31 points to complement Rondina’s finals eruptionmon the losing end.