MANILA, Philippines -- The highly-anticipated showdown between Creamline and Choco Mucho in the semifinals of the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference showed that there remains a disparity between the sister teams.

Choco Mucho head coach Oliver Almadro acknowledged as much after his Flying Titans were beaten in back-to-back games by the Cool Smashers, who swept the best-of-3 series to advance to the finals.

Creamline notched a pair of four-set victories, clinching the series with a 23-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-15 victory on Sunday.

"We'll be honest here," said Almadro. "'Yung level ng game play is, medyo may discrepancy pa kami. May disparity."

"But we will work it out na mapunta tayo doon," he assured.

The difference, according to Almadro, is the collective maturity of the Cool Smashers. Creamline is a veteran squad whose players have been together for at least a few conferences now. They did not add a new player in the offseason while other teams -- including Choco Mucho -- made several moves.

The chemistry and composure of the squad was evident in their series, said the coach.

"Sabi ko nga, tumalsik 'yung bola, alam mo na kung sino nasa likod mo. Malaking factor 'yun," said Almadro. "Malaking factor na matagal na sila magkasama."

"Imagine, Jia [Morado] and Alyssa [Valdez], ilang taon ng magkakasama 'yan. Tapos sinamahan mo pa ng mga ibang players na nanalo sila at natalo sila, sila 'yung magkakasama," he added.

Choco Mucho, in contrast, is still working on developing the same level of chemistry and maturity across the board. They added new players in the offseason -- Desiree Cheng, Aduke Ogunsanya and Jem Ferrer, among others -- and Almadro knows they have yet to fully click together.

"Mature naman sila, personally, individually," he said of his players. "But as a team, makukuha na rin naman 'yun, na 'pag may sagot sa amin, may sagot din kami ulit."

"This is our first challenge as a team na bago 'yung roster namin," Almadro also pointed out. "So siguro through challenges like this, through great teams like Creamline, it will just push us forward para makita namin kung ano kailangan namin in the coming conferences."

Choco Mucho still has a chance to claim a podium finish, as they will play the Cignal HD Spikers for the bronze medal in the Open Conference.