MANILA, Philippines —Bea De Leon savored her fifth title with the Creamline Cool Smashers, admitting that every victory feels more precious as the years pass for the veteran roster.
The middle-blocker sustained a knee injury last August 2025 and took her time to recover, slowly making her return in the 2025 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference.
The 29-year-old Cool Smashers shared that winning the 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference title means so much to her, facing the reality that they are getting old.
“We are so thankful, especially us... Truth be told, we’re getting older... So, for all of us, there’s not much [time] left. Looking at the core of Creamline, we are closer to the end than we ever were,” she said as Creamline swept Cignal in the best-of-three championship series.
“So we're thankful at this age that we're still able to do it at the end,” she added.
De Leon contributed seven points in Game 2 of the Finals and shared that she is making the most out of every opportunity to play.
“It's really what we’re always talking about... We just want to get... We’re just really grateful, we’re just full of gratitude that we got to experience this again... I mean, whenever we see the LED lights, [we think] thank God we’re back here,” she recalled as the team finished title-less in 2025.
“Just having that opportunity to be here—and we finally got it... There were times when we didn't know if we would even make it to the finals. We’re just grateful."
Since her transfer from the Choco Mucho Flying Titans, De Leon played a pivotal role in Creamline’s rare historic Grand Slam finish in the league in 2024.
“Very, very grateful, just as [Bernadeth] Pons said, our journey this year wasn't easy. Having missed the whole of 2025, and then we went through so many do-or-die games... I’m just grateful for the opportunity, and grateful that I was with my teammates, and that I got to play alongside them.”
She was also teary recalling how she recovered from her knee injury, and how she was able to bounce back and perform once more inside the court.
“It's been a hard season. I didn't think that after I came from surgery. It was so grim at some point. I didn't know if I was gonna catch up on anything. My knee was hurting.”
“But thankfully, [I have] my PTs, the doctors, my coaches, and teammates who truly trusted me even when... well, regardless of how I looked out there on the court. I am just so thankful that we are here today and that they put their trust in us."
