PVL Player of the Week Nierva salutes Creamline system, praises Chery adapting to win

MANILA, Philippines – It took 19 games across eight months, but PVL dynasty Creamline finally tasted defeat once again, this time at the hands of former finals rival Chery Tiggo.

Making the victory sweeter on one side and the bitter losing pill more difficult to swallow on the other, the Crossovers stunned the Cool Smashers with a tight, but clean 25-18, 26-24, 25-23 sweep – the first time the seven-time PVL champions got a 0-3 blanking in five long years.

Serving as the defensive catalyst in that masterclass win in Santa Rosa, Laguna was young libero Jen Nierva, who stuffed the stat sheet with 20 excellent sets and 10 excellent digs in limited time, perfectly complementing Eya Laure’s game-high 14 points.

For her standout efforts, the former UAAP Best Libero and NU star was awarded the fourth PVL Press Corps Player of the Week award for the 2024 All-Filipino Conference, marking the first time the beat reporters came together with a unanimous 19-0 vote.

Nierva understandably gushed about the win in the postgame presser last Saturday, March 16, as she recounted the time Chery Tiggo had front row seats to Creamline performing its best in the 2023 All-Filipino finals.

“In the championship [series] last conference, we were watching because we had to wait for the awarding ceremony with Eya as our Best Outside [Hitter]. So we watched the entire [Game 2 against Choco Mucho], and I was just so amazed with Creamline,” she said in Filipino.

“I asked around and I said, ‘How can we even beat Creamline?,’ because system-wise, they’re so solid. Attackers, defense, passing. Even as we were scouting, we couldn’t see how we could find a hole in them.”

Fast forward to the present in Santa Rosa, and it turned out Nierva’s game itself was the answer, as her restrictive floor defense made the offensive burden easier for attackers like Laure, Mylene Paat, and Ara Galang, who all focused on piercing the feared Creamline walls set after set.

“We’re just so happy we’ve come to a point where we jelled inside the court. Our familiarity helped while the coaches tweaked our system after our sweep loss to Farm Fresh,” continued Nierva, who beat out Laure, Petro Gazz’s Brooke Van Sickle, Choco Mucho’s Sisi Rondina, and Akari’s Fifi Sharma for the award.

“I really felt coach Kungfu (Reyes) and the other coaches, they didn’t want that kind of loss to happen again. As long as we have opponents to face, we always have a chance to win. It doesn’t mean that when they’re on top, they have to win. No, we always have a chance.”

With Nierva exuding much-needed confidence in her game, Chery Tiggo will need all the motivation it can get as it attempts to vastly improve from its shaky 3-2 record, even after the massive Creamline coup.

The Crossovers take next serve on Thursday, March 21, in another blockbuster battle against the Van Sickle-led Angels at the Araneta Coliseum. – Rappler.com