Ateneo has no ‘Queen Eagle’

Alyssa Valdez. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Even in a team sport such as volleyball there is always one who will standout.

In the case of Ateneo, Alyssa Valdez has been the team’s leader in every way but the two-time MVP insisted she’s not the team’s “queen” even though she’s virtually the visual representation of a Lady Eagle.

For Valdez there’s no “Queen Eagle.”

As she savors her final days as part of the team, Valdez said there’s really no single individual that should be called the label, as everyone deserves it.

“It’s really hard for Ateneo kung sino talaga kasi everyone deserves it, from Jia [Morado], Gizelle [Tan], from Jho [Maraguinot], from Kim [Gequillana], they deliver, from Bea [De Leon],” Valdez said Monday after the team’s practice at Blue Eagle Gym. “Any moment nag de-deliver sila.”

“It’s not that kung sino, that’s the thing we really don’t focus on kung sino (which) queen we focus as a team, as a whole.”

Morado, too, said there’s really nobody that can hold the “Queen Eagle” moniker since everyone has a distinct role to play.

As a setter, Morado is the one who makes plays for her teammates and starts the offense.

“Sa case namin, pantay pantay ang tingin namin sa isa’t isa,” Morado said who is in her third year. “Kahit sila senior they treat us as equals kasi kami may kanya kanyang capability na puwedeng ipasok sa court, tapos if anyone’s who’s going to [be a] standout it’s going to be the team, it’s not going to be anyone specific.”

She added she would not be someone who will become the sole leader of the team. What she would do is set the tone with her job as a setter.

“I want to lead as a playmaker, that’s really a job for me, I have to lead the plays.”

Valdez, who is on the brink of winning a possible third straight MVP title, said everyone has a duty to fulfill and in that respect each player has become someone that can resemble a leader.

“I believe they have their own jobs, isa isa sila in different ways a Queen Eagle,” Valdez said.