The scene was all too familiar for the Creamline Cool Smashers: shrieks and cheers erupt as they nailed that winning point, followed by a shower of confetti raining down on them to celebrate their latest conquest.

But hoisting the Premier Volleyball League trophy for the eighth time before a jubilant crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on a late Sunday night hit differently for skipper Alyssa Valdez.

“This was probably the most difficult and challenging conference for all of us, probably because we were really trying to figure out kung nasaan na kami at this point in our lives and our career, and kung ano pa yung kaya pa naming i-improve as a team,” said Valdez moments after they captured this year’s All-Filipino Conference crown at the expense of sister team Choco Mucho through a sweep of their best-of-three finals series.

Statistically, it was true. Unlike in the previous conference where they cruised to a 15-0 sweep of the title, Creamline had to thread through the eye of the needle this time to get to where they are now.

They were actually on the brink of elimination before scoring important wins to clinch the fourth seeding in the semifinals. They lost to Choco Mucho in five sets at the start of the round-robin semis before crawling their way up with victories over Chery Tiggo and Petro Gazz to book a finals berth.

Then came the championship.

Faced against the very same rival they beat last conference, the Cool Smashers had to muster all their might to retain their crown -- first, with a tough 24-26, 25-20, 25-21, 25-16 victory in Game 1 before following it up with a pulsating 20-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 15-11 Game 2 triumph.

Valdez said they’d take any kind of victory, stressing that the lessons they learned on their journey were more important.

“This win, this conference, just proved that we stick and stay together despite everything,” she said. “It showed our faith and hope, na kakapit kami hanggang dulo.”

“One thing na na-prove ng challenges namin this conference is yung pagtutulungan namin hanggang dulo. Everyone helped. Lahat hindi bumitaw,” she added.

Their teamwork and cohesion were evident in the finals, particularly in Game 2 of their series. Faced with Choco Mucho’s formidable frontline in Sisi Rondina, Maddie Madayag, Deanna Wong, Isa Molde and Royse Tubino, Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses sought reinforcements from their deep bench anchored on Bernadeth Pons, Michele Gumabao and Bea De Leon to douse the fire of their opponents.

“Ako naman ready ako anytime na gamitin ako ni coach,” said Pons, who delivered in crucial moments and went on to finish with 17 points.

“Samin kasi kapag may nawawala, may mag-ii-step-up. Yun yung sobrang ganda sa team namin. Lahat nagko-contribute, kaya nakuha namin tong panalo na to,” she added.

Adding another trophy to their growing collection just solidified Creamline’s reign in the league, but don’t expect them to slow down.

“Dadagdagan pa namin ng nine, ten, eleven (titles), forever and ever!” Finals MVP Jema Galanza quipped.

“Pero seryoso, lahat naman kami may pinaghuhugutan sa panalong to, pero magpu-push pa kami lalo kasi ganito namin kamahal yung volleyball,” she added.