Alyssa Valdez made sure she leaves Creamline on a winning note.
Off to join the Philippine team’s training in Japan, Valdez unloaded 30 points to lead Creamline past defending champion Pocari Sweat, 25-15, 17-25, 25-19, 25-19, in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference at Filoil Flying V Centre on Saturday.
The win gave the Cool Smashers their fourth straight win and solo leadership. They also inflicted the Lady Warriors’ first defeat in the conference.
But they will miss the services of Valdez in the next three matches as she is scheduled to return Aug. 2.
“Pocari gave us a good fight,” said Valdez who will join the Nationals on Monday when they start a multicity training camp in preparation for the Asian championship and Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian Games next month.
By the time Valdez returns, Creamline would either be in the playoffs or already assured of a semifinal berth.
Jia Morado said Creamline will surely feel Valdez’s absence but is confident that “my teammates will step up.”
“We are not relying only on Alyssa, we’re relying on everyone,” said Morado.
It was a virtual spiking derby between Valdez and Pocari gunner Myla Pablo, who accounted for 25 points.
The two main draws of the league fueled their respective teams, keeping the match tight until the Lady Warriors, champions of the past three conferences, lost their momentum late in the fourth.
Pocari was within 19-21 but committed successive errors, including a Pablo attacking miss. Pau Soriano ended it with a block off an exhausted Pablo.