The Creamline Cool Smashers may have won two of their first three games in the 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference, but for main setter Jia De Guzman, there is still plenty of room to grow.
Creamline opened its campaign with a straight-sets loss to the PLDT High Speed Hitters, 22-25, 17-25, 23-25. The Cool Smashers responded with a four-set win over sister team Choco Mucho Flying Titans, 27-25, 17-25, 25-21, 25-15, before carrying that momentum into another four-set victory against the ZUS Coffee Thunderbelles, 22-25, 25-17, 25-16, 25-18.
Jia De Guzman Far From Satisfied . . .
Despite the positive results, De Guzman believes the team has yet to hit its true form.
“Despite our wins, we sometimes put ourselves in unnecessarily tough situations,” De Guzman, who recently returned after a three-year stint in Japan, said after the Thunderbelles match. “Ako personally, hindi pa. Hindi pa ito ‘yun.”
“I think there are still a lot of times na we put ourselves in hard situations na hindi naman talaga dapat. Like coach said nga, maraming beses na ‘yung effort talaga namin at ‘yung kagustuhan naming manalo, nagdi-dictate kung ano ‘yung nangyayari sa laro.
“And a lot of times, today and in the past games, nag-i-stop kami. So, ‘yun ‘yung tina-try naming ayusin din as a team.”
Her assessment extends to her own performance. In Creamline’s loss to PLDT, De Guzman tallied 12 excellent sets, below her usual standard. She improved to 20 in the win over Choco Mucho and then to 25 against ZUS Coffee, but she still sees areas for refinement.
“I think, regarding my performance, I still see a lot of lapses. Maraming sitwasyon nga, like coach mentioned, na we could’ve controlled better; we made a lot of errors. Pero, thankfully, natuto kami and naihabol naman namin,” she said.
. . . But Proud of Creamline Nonetheless
Even with the critique, De Guzman expressed pride in how the team continues to evolve through adversity.
“But as a team, I’m really proud of how we performed. Kasi, ito ‘yung kinds of games na natututo kami gumalaw as one. Parang dito kami nagbi-build ng chemistry. Dito kami nakaka-face ng adversity and kung paano namin iha-handle talaga as one team. So, thankfully talaga, the win went our way,” she added.
Creamline looks to continue building its rhythm when it faces the Capital1 Solar Spikers on Saturday, February 21, at 4:00 p.m. at the FilOil Centre in San Juan City.
