Creamline Cool Smashers’ Alyssa Valdez during a game against Galeries Tower High Risers in the PVL All-Filipino Conference. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Fit-again Alyssa Valdez has been peaking at the right time for the Creamline Cool Smashers and she hopes to to contribute more in their title quest as the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference nears its climax.
Valdez delivered 16 points, seven digs, and seven excellent receptions to seal the top seed for Creamline with a 25-15, 26-24, 25-19 win over Galeries Tower on Thursday at Philsports Arena.
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SCHEDULE: PVL All-Filipino Conference 2024-2025
The three-time MVP, who missed the past two conferences due to a nagging knee injury, said her solid showing in their last preliminary game is a much-needed confidence booster ahead of the qualifying round against the No.12 team.
“I guess, my hard work also personally has been paying off,” Valdez told Inquirer Sports.
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“It’s a really big deal for me, for my confidence going to the qualifying rounds. And hopefully, makalampas din kami doon para mas makatulong pa ako atcontribute pa ako sa team.”
Valdez and the Cool Smashers, who topped the preliminaries with a 10-1 record, are looking forward to the qualifying game as they play a different format to earn a slot in the best-of-three quarterfinals.
“I’d say it’s something different, something exciting, something to look forward to. Kasi at the end of the day, ang tagal na rin nating naglalaro sa PVL. SoI think, a little change would help excite us, hopefully. So doon namin tinitignan yung bagong format na ito,” she said.
READ: Alyssa Valdez looks ahead with optimism after ‘roller-coaster’ 2024
The 31-year-old spiker believes that their lone loss to PLDT that snapped their 19-game winning streak last Saturday was a huge wake-up call and humbling to the team.
“That was actually something na masasabi namin na at the end of the day, wake up call talaga. But we were humbled by that loss at the end of the day so we worked hard next day and made sure na gagawin namin ‘yung trabaho namin and roles namin,” Valdez said.
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“With that loss siguro, we would say na we have so much things, so many things to improve on pa as a team. It was a good loss for us, if that makes sense.”