PVL FINALS: Will Akari make history or Creamline cement legacy?
Wednesday’s finale will either see a first-time PVL champion or a Creamline team cementing its legacy while playing without its Big Three
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ALL roads, rocky as they were, lead to a winner-take-all championship game in the 2024 PVL Reinforced Conference.

Unbeaten finals first-timer Akari and eight-time champion Creamline form an unlikely pair that will contest the league title days after a controversy-marred semifinals.

With a PLDT protest on its semifinal vs Akari junked by the league, the stage is set for an Akari-Creamline final at the PhilSports Arena.

And here’s all you need to know for what will only be their first yet most important battle this conference.

#1 Akari vs. #3 Creamline

WHEN: Wednesday, September 4, 6 p.m.
WHERE: PhilSports Arena
WATCH: One Sports, One Sports+, RPTV, Pilipinas Live, pvl.ph/live

The favorites, on paper

Since Akari joined the PVL in 2022, it only had five previous matches against Creamline — all in the preliminary round.

Their head-to-head record? 5-0 in favor of the Cool Smashers.

Photo by: Sherwin Vardeleon

Coincidentally, all five of their matches had the exact same outcome: Creamline winning in four sets.

But based off this conference alone, Akari is nowhere near the team it used to be.

And its 10-0 record thus far speaks for itself.

Akari ready for the bright lights?

The Chargers had, and still have, a lot to take in entering the final day of what has been a Cinderella run like no other for the two-year-old franchise.

They were coming off back-to-back seventh-place runs after finishing eighth twice and tenth in their first three PVL campaign.

In five PVL conferences played over the last two years, Akari had 16 total wins.

Photo by: Sherwin Vardeleon

And in this import-laden tilt alone, they already have 10 — in a row.

But as it goes in sports, form, numbers, and all those stuff are thrown out the window when the ultimate prize is to be decided in an all-or-nothing title game.

Creamline’s ‘cloud nine’ moment?

Eight PVL championships.

That’s six more than the second-most decorated team in Petro Gazz and eight more than the 10 other teams in the current PVL field.

But there are two things about a possible Reinforced Conference championship that will make it an actual ‘cloud nine’ moment for Creamline.

Photo by: Sherwin Vardeleon

First is the fact that a PVL title in import-laden play has eluded the eight-time champs for six years now.

Petro Gazz won the last two editions of this conference in 2022 and 2019 where it bested Creamline in a 2-1 title series comeback.

Long-overdue redemption is one thing in the Cool Smashers’ minds. The other would be how this potential title run will be their first without any of their four star pillars in Alyssa Valdez, Tots Carlos, Jema Galanza and Jia de Guzman.

Squad depth has long been Creamline’s bread and butter. They’ll need it now more than ever to win an unprecedented ninth PVL title.

All-American imports, champion-caliber locals

Two American stars look to earn their golden stripes come Monday night.

Photo by: Sherwin Vardeleon

Both Oly Okaro and Erica Staunton will enter the finals fresh off career games in the PVL, with the former dropping 39 for Akari over PLDT and the latter firing 38 for Creamline against Cignal in two heated semis five-setters.

Okaro had 203 total points (25.4 per game), ranking second overall in the league during the preliminary round ahead of Staunton’s 175 markers (21.9 per game).

Spiking-wise, Okaro led the league in pool play with a 40.2% efficiency rate, still ahead of Staunton with 35.9% to rank sixth.

Neither Okaro nor Staunton had to do some heavy-lifting as they were backed by two local aces each to form their respective scoring trios.

Photo by: Sherwin Vardeleon

Akari’s Ivy Lacsina averaged 15.5 points in the playoffs behind Grethcel Soltones’ 16.5 markers, with Creamline banking on MVP frontrunner Bernadeth Pons (22 points) and Michele Gumabao (10.5 points) to fill the voids left by Valdez, Carlos and Galanza.

Whichever way the title game swings, history is promised for either the newcomers in the big stage or for the PVL’ s perennial champion team.