Four teams including multi-titled Creamline race for the remaining semifinal berths on Tuesday, Aug. 27, in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

The Cool Smashers, who eye an unprecedented ninth title in the league, battle 2022 Reinforced Conference champion Petro Gazz Angels at 6 p.m., while PLDT and Chery Tiggo clash in the other pairing at 4 p.m.

Seeded third in the quarterfinals, the road has been bumpy for the once invincible Creamline with the absence of key players due to injuries and national team duties.

Still, the Cool Smashers showed depth, maturity and cohesion as they managed to finish the preliminaries with six wins in eight matches.

But one of their two losses came from the sixth-seeded Petro Gazz in five sets, making this next meeting thrilling yet dangerous.

The import showdown between Creamline’s Erica Staunton and Petro Gazz’s Wilma Salas is expected to add more fire to the anticipated nail-biting showdown after the two scored 30 and 34 points, respectively, in their last matchup.

Their local support is expected to play a key role in this battle, with Staunton set to join forces with Michele Gumabao, Bernadeth Pons and Kyle Negrito, and Salas scheduled to team up with Brooke Van Sickle, Myla Pablo and Chie Saet.

Equally exciting is the PLDT-Chery Tiggo matchup, where their first meeting also went the distance.

The fifth-seeded Crossovers prevailed in that match in five sets, and are aiming to duplicate that feat with high-scoring Kath Bell, Ara Galang and Jasmine Nabor at the forefront of their attack.

The fourth-seeded High Speed Hitters boast of their own arsenal in Elena Samoilenko, Erika Santos and Kim Fajardo as they seek to join early semifinalists Akari and Cignal into the next phase.