Creamline Cool Smashers open its PVL campaign against vastly improved Chery Tiggo Crossovers

Games Today(Filoil EcoOil Arena)1:30 p.m. — Farm Fresh vs F24 p.m. — Cignal vs Petro Gazz6:30 p.m. — Chery Tiggo vs Creamline

CREAMLINE aims to reassert its mastery over the league it has dominated in recent years amid the sweeping player changes that recently occurred in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) as it opens its campaign against a vastly improved Chery Tiggo in the Invitational Conference inaugurals tonight at the Filoil EcoOil Arena.

For the first time in a while, the Cool Smashers, the defending champions and winners of six the last nine conferences, have added a marquee name in Bernadeth Pons to bolster an already formidable lineup headed by skipper and the healthy-again Alyssa Valdez.

Apart from Ms. Pons, who is already a star in her own right before dabbling into beach volley where she snared two Southeast Asian Games bronzes, and Ms. Valdez, the proud franchise also boasts of many-time MVP Tots Carlos, Jia de Guzman, Jema Galanza, Michele Gumabao, Ced Domingo, Kyla Atienza, Jeanette Panaga and Risa Sato.

Under the same intact line up, the Cool Smashers have made it into the podium in all their 11 conferences with six titles, two runner-up finishes and three third-place efforts to show and should be the heavy favorites to win again.

But Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses and his humble stars tempered expectations, saying the league, which drew a record 13 teams that included three rookie teams — Foton, Farm Fresh and Gerflor — and a couple of foreign squads, have become parity-friendly in recent seasons.

This was because of the potential emergence of several collegiate stars like Eya Laure of Chery Tiggo, Faith Nisperos of Akari and Vanessa Gandler of Cignal among others and the return of some of country’s vets like Sisi Rondina to Choco Mucho and Jovelyn Gonzaga to Cignal.

In its first game alone, expect Creamline to face a rock-solid Chery Tiggo side that was boosted by the arrival of Ms. Laure, who should be an added arsenal to a roster already loaded with it.

The Chery Tiggo Crossovers, who are hoping to replicate their dream title run in the Bacarra, Ilocos Norte bubble two years ago, have also tapped collegiate stars Imee Hernandez, Joyme Cagande, Jen Nierva and UAAP Finals MVP Cess Robles to complete the league’s biggest recruiting coup to date.

Gametime is at 6:30 p.m.

The Farm Fresh Foxies, for their part, are expected to make their league debut against the title-contending F2 Logistics Cargo Movers at 1:30 p.m. while the equally fearsome Cignal HD Spikers and Petro Gazz Angels collide at 4 p.m. — Joey Villar