Valdez, Creamline keep head high despite semis exit
Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
After losing its shot at making the finals Thursday, Alyssa Valdez and Creamline now set their sights on a third place finish in the Premier Volleyball League.
The Cool Smashers lost to Bali Pure, 25-18, 25-13, 25-16, in the semifinals and Valdez said they just have to remain positive as they contend for a bronze medal.
“We have to have a good mindset going into the battle for third,” said Valdez, who finished with 13 points in the loss. “We really fell short in this game but I still think this is a good experience for everyone also.”
Creamline’s three-set loss to the Water Defenders was the first match the Cool Smashers played in less than four periods and it’s unfortunate that it had to happen this way, Valdez said.
Valdez added they had to battle through their team’s immense inconsistency during their match against Bali Pure, with the Cool Smashers being formed just a few months before the PVL tournament started.
“Our game today was really inconsistent and we were not that cohesive as compared to the other teams whose cores have been together for much longer than us,” said Valdez. “Of course, we’ve been frustrated but we have to learn from that and we have to work on our maturity as a team.”
“And we want to think that we’ve overachieved in some way because we’re really a new team and it’s hard to go up against the teams who’ve been together for so long,” said Valdez.
Creamline drew the shorter end of the stick against Bali Pure, getting outscored in the spikes department 41-30 and committing more errors than the Water Defenders, 19-12.
