MANILA — Creamline playmaker Jia de Guzman was proud of everyone in the team as they punched a return ticket to the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Finals.
The Cool Smashers entered the championship stage for the 15th time in their franchise history by beating Farm Fresh, 25-23, 14-25, 25-23, 25-19, in the round-robin semifinals on Thursday at the Filoil Centre in San Juan.
READ: PVL: Creamline eliminates Farm Fresh, arranges Finals clash with Cignal
It was a total team effort, according to the PVL's eight-time Best Setter, as they overcame challenges through a leveled up field and injury setbacks.
"Mahirap kasi talaga 'yung pinagdaanan ng team. Pero masasabi ko talaga na every member of the team stepped up to get us this far in the finals," said de Guzman.
"Tsaka hindi pa kami tapos, pero I have to give credit to everyone in the team kasi everyone did their roles from the coaches, from the players, sa bench, sa training, lahat talaga sobrang team effort," she added.
De Guzman orchestrated Creamline's attacks against the Foxies, tallying 26 excellent sets.
On a personal level, the Ateneo de Manila University product admitted that she had hesitation whether she could reconnect with the Cool Smashers again after playing in Japan.
Still, she was reassured along the way that they, as a team, could overcome the hump.
"With me kasi, siyempre I know for a fact na it's been a while since I played with Creamline and so, there is some hesitation, there is some, kahit kaunting doubt na makaka-jell ba ako with the team as the games go by, as the trainings go by," she said.
"Pero, parati akong nire-reassure ng mga teammates ko, ng coaches ko na 'kaya namin, kaya ko, kaya namin.'"