Choco Mucho-Creamline faceoff expected to draw record attendance

Games Thursday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
4 p.m. — SGA vs Farm Fresh
6 p.m. — Choco Mucho vs Creamline

CHOCO Mucho and Creamline, unquestionably the most popular volleyball teams in the land today, face off for the first time this year with one eyeing the first semifinal ticket and the other fighting for survival in an expectedly epic Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference elimination round duel that is expected to break league attendance records.

Sibling rivalry. Destiny versus dynasty. Call it what you want.

The match made in heaven is happening at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

But unlike before, the Flying Titans have the upper hand this time in terms of win-loss record as they currently lead the league with an 8-1 slate that put them a straight or four-set win away from claiming the first spot to the single-round robin semis.

For the Cool Smashers, they have stumbled twice and looked vulnerable at times in earning a 7-2 mark that got them in a four-way logjam at second with the Petro Gazz Angels, PLDT High Speed Hitters and Chery Tiggo Crossovers.

A win for the dynastic franchise would send it to the top and closer to advancing to the semis.

In terms of their head-to-head battle, Creamline has the overwhelming edge after having won Sister Act I, or their first championship showdown that ended in a two-game sweep at the Big Dome.

That momentous match drew a league attendance record of 24,459, the most in the country in a volleyball game as well as in the PVL as it erased the old mark of 19,157 set the previous year at the Mall of Asia Arena.

And there’s a possibility that it could be re-arranged again.

Creamline will come into this faceoff as a team on a mission and it was evident in how resolute it was when it downed Nxled, 25-22, 25-12, 25-20, Saturday in a game that saw the former playing their starters to the maximum.

“I think more than the win, we have to remind ourselves that we’re finding who we are again,” said Creamline captain Alyssa Valdez, whose squad has been brought down its knees twice including a five set defeat just two weeks ago.

Choco Mucho coach Dante Alinsunurin vowed to be ready against Creamline.

Preceding the duel is the 4 p.m. encounter between Strong Group Athletics or SGA (0-9) and Farm Fresh (2-7).

And then it will be the match that Philippine volleyball fandom has dreamed and craved for. — Joey Villar