Alyssa Valdez. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Alyssa Valdez celebrated her 23rd birthday on Wednesday and it proved to be one hell of a bash.
Valdez took home a victory and once again showed why she’s arguably the best volleyball player of her generation.
In Bali Pure’s revenge game against Pocari Sweat, the girl known as The Phenom unloaded 24 points and Water Defenders swept Pocari Sweat, 25-20, 25-19, 26-24 in the opener of the Shakey’s V-League semifinals series.
Valdez, whose trademark style of playing happy, was all smiles after her team avenged their five-set loss to the Lady Warriors, 25-21, 25-6, 24-26, 25-27, 18-19, where they took the first two sets in dominating fashion then collapsed in the next three.
“Iyong nag change talaga is we played happy until the end of the game, compared sa last game,” said Valdez who had 32 points in their loss Saturday. “Third set, lahat ng set dikit talaga, and we really had that communication inside the court.”
“We adjusted in every situation na binibigay also.”
With the third set tied at 24-24, Valdez put Bali Pure in the position to win with an off-the-block kill before Amy Ahomiro sealed the match with a service ace.
Bali Pure now has a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three semis.