Five years after leading the now-defunct Chery Tiggo Crossovers to the PVL’s first professional championship, Jaja Santiago is set to return to the league after signing with the Creamline Cool Smashers.
Santiago, who now goes by Sachi Minowa following her acquisition of Japanese citizenship in 2024, will suit up for the Cool Smashers before beginning her campaign with San Francisco Signal in League One Volleyball (LOVB) Pro in the United States.
The 30‑year‑old middle blocker last played in the PVL in 2021, when she powered Chery Tiggo to the league’s inaugural professional title and became the first Most Valuable Player of the PVL’s professional era.
Jaja Santiago Has Made a New For Herself Internationally
Since then, Jaja Santiago has built an impressive career in Japan, returning to Ageo Medics in late 2021 before moving on to Osaka Marvelous and Denso Airybees.
She also established herself as one of Japan’s premier middle blockers, earning Best Middle Blocker honors in 2022 and 2023.
Her move to Creamline reunites two of Philippine volleyball’s biggest names in Jaja Santiago and Alyssa Valdez.
The pair first played together during their high school days at UST before becoming teammates again with the PLDT High Speed Hitters in the Shakey’s V‑League and later with the Philippine national team.
Their reunion comes five years after meeting on opposite sides of the net in the PVL’s first professional championship series, where Santiago led Chery Tiggo to a dramatic reverse‑sweep victory over Valdez and Creamline inside the Ilocos Norte bubble.
Santiago’s arrival bolsters an already formidable Creamline frontline, joining a middle blocker rotation bannered by 10‑time PVL Best Middle Blocker Jeanette Panaga alongside Bea De Leon, Sheena Toring, Michelle Gamit, Nica Celis, and Erin Pangilinan.
