Cool Smashers are winning and learning from Jaja at the same time

Jaja Santiago Minowa (left)celebrates with the rest of theteam. —PVL IMAGES

From going up against Jaja Santiago-Minowa in the UAAP and the first professional season of the PVL, Jema Galanza is having fun as she teams up with the towering yet very agile middle blocker for Creamline this time in the Invitational Conference.

With Santiago-Minowa leading the way, Creamline has cruised to a 2-0 record in the week-long tournament after wrapping up the third set in just 12 minutes in a 25-18, 25-16, 25-6 sweep of Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday evening at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Minowa and Galanza scored 12 points each, dominating the attacking department against the young Vietnamese, 49-19, and leading by as many as 18-1 in the final set.

A former Adamson Lady Falcon, Galanza is honored to share the court with the National University product Santiago-Minowa, whom she went up against in the UAAP and the first pro season of the PVL in 2021. Santiago-Minowa led Chery Tiggo past Creamline in the finals inside the bubble in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte.

“Of course, I’m really happy. Jaja is so easy to play with because you don’t have to worry too much about attacking—she can take care of that,” Galanza said in Filipino. “But more importantly, there’s so much we can learn from her.”

“She shares a lot with us, and she’s easy to play with because she adjusts to our system,” she went on. “Creamline already has an established system, so that’s really important. Thank you so much, Jaja, for that.”