MIXED EMOTIONS FOR CREAMLINE’S COURTNEY SCHWAN AFTER PVL DEBUT

DASMARIÑAS, Cavite — Courtney Schwan had mixed emotions in her PVL debut after drawing overwhelming support from the fans in Creamline’s loss to Akari in their Reinforced Conference opener.

Schwan debuted in style with 26 points, 15 digs, and nine excellent receptions, but only for the Cool Smashers’ nine-game winning streak against Akari to be snapped with a 23-25, 25-23, 30-28, 23-25, 15-12 result.

READ: PVL: Akari finally solves Creamline puzzle

“I was overwhelmed in the beginning. The Creamline fans are amazing and I did not expect to be welcomed so nicely. A little bummed about the result, obviously, because I’m a wimp, but I’m happy we lost early so that we can learn from our mistakes and move on,” said Schwan.

The American hitter cut the deficit down to one in the fifth set, 12-11, but two crucial errors from her team sent Akari to match point before Annie Mitchem scored her 33rd point through the block.

“I think we had a couple of errors in key moments of the match. They played very well, but I also think that we, in the end, made the mistakes and we lost it to ourselves,” said Schwan.

Schwan and the Cool Smashers will be working out on their late-game lapses after starting their title defense with a tough defeat.

READ: PVL: Creamline taps Courtney Schwan as Reinforced import

“We have to take care of the small things, free routes, key moments, we have to [avoid] errors, we have to serve it in, those types of things,” she said.

Creamline gets another acid test on Tuesday facing Petro Gazz and its duo of Brooke Van Sickle and Lindsey Vander Weide at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“The mindset is to get better at the things that we can as fast as possible,” said Schwan. “We’re working hard to get better because this is a short conference, so we’re going to take as much time as we can to get better.”

2025-10-12T07:31:54Z