Creamline turned to its deep bench with most of its key players unavailable in a statement win over sister-team Choco Mucho, 25-18, 25-16, 24-26, 25-21, to set its Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference title-retention bid in motion late Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Bernadeth Pons stepped up to the occasion with a sizzling performance as she connived with veteran Michele Gumabao to lead the Cool Smashers' offensive charge witnessed by a 14,014-strong crowd .

The duo shared the spotlight with Kyle Negrito, who did a great job taking over the spot vacated by eight-time Best Setter winner Jia Morado-De Guzman following her departure to play for the Denso Airybees in the Japan V.League.

Creamline proved to the rest of the field its depth despite marching into battle without sidelined middle blocker Ced Domingo and libero Kyle Atienza while starting wingers skipper Alyssa Valdez and reigning Conference Most Valuable Player Tots Carlos seeing limited minutes.

But the Cool Smashers barely felt their absence with Pons waxing hot with 22 points including 21 from attacks while adding 11 digs and seven excellent receptions.

Negrito tallied 23 excellent sets to help the Cool Smashers convert 68 kills.

"Of course, we're happy we won in our first game and thankful that the breaks of the game went our way. Of course, Choco gave us a tough battle but our players didn't let this game slip from away," Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses said after his wards won their ninth straight head-to-head match over Choco Mucho since 2019.

Valdez, who came off the bench in two sets of action, opened a slim 16-15 lead in the fourth set with back-to-back hits that sparked a 7-3 run for a 22-17 separation.

The Flying Titans, who saw the return of Aduke Ogunsanya from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, cut their deficit to 23-20 but the Cool Smashers answered with a 2-1 finishing kick capped by a Risa Sato hit.

Gamabao had 20 points she collected from 18 kills and two aces, Jema Galanza produced 11 markers and 15 digs, Jeanette Panaga had nine while Valdez scored four for Creamline.