Alyssa Valdez arrives at San Juan Arena after Bali pure’s victory. Photo by Bong Lozada/INQUIRER.net
Bali Pure has played three games in the Shakey’s V-League Open Conference and the Defenders managed to claim to 2-1 record despite fielding an incomplete lineup.
Team captain Alyssa Valdez has been missing in action so far, only arriving in the Philippines Wednesday night after her European trip with her family.
Valdez was supposed to cheer for the Defenders but the three-time UAAP MVP arrived at San Juan Arena a tad too late as she failed to watch as Bali Pure trumped Iriga City 18-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-21.
It wasn’t only Valdez who’s been absent for Bali Pure. On Wednesday, playing coach Charo Soriano, Bea Tan, Jem Ferrer, and Ella De Jesus also didn’t suit up.
Valdez hopes her team can finally field all 14 of them once she takes the court on June 13, saying that it’s been a struggle to get everyone together during training because of the conflict in schedule.
“Hindi naman maiiwasan na may commitments din pero I’m hoping na maging kumpleto din kami, magkaroon ng connection sa schedules” said Valdez. “Hindi rin naman sinasadya na di magkakasama sa training and hopefully magawan ng paraan ang attendance.”
Soriano and Tan are the organizers of Beach Volleyball Republic who are now playing in Cagayan while Ferrer and De Jesus have day jobs at PLDT.
Valdez, meanwhile, is focused on getting herself into volleyball shape after nearly a month of vacation and touring the Philippines for camps.
“Kailangan ko pa magpa condition, one month na camp lang na walang active volleyball training,” said Valdez who’ll resort to Ateneo head coach Tai Bundit’s intense regimen to get back in shape. “Same siguro ng ginagawa kay coach Tai, yung mga takbo and all, lahat kailangan kong gawin double time.”