Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Four clubs start their royal rumble for a spot in the championship round on Sunday, but all eyes are on fixed on league darling Alyssa Valdez, who hasn’t won a title in almost three years.
Valdez will be front and center for top seed Creamline, which will battle rebooted three-time champion Pocari Sweat-Air Force in a best-of-three semifinal series of the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference at Filoil Flying V Centre.
Also serving up their own series—in a much low-key manner—are PayMaya and BanKo Perlas.
The last time the 25-year-old poster girl held a trophy was in 2015 when she helped PLDT Home Ultera to back-to-back titles along with the likes of Jaja Santiago and Grethcel Soltones.
With the Cool Smashers building their team around Valdez, fans are hoping to finally witness the end of a long title-drought.
Having Valdez’s back are imports Kuttika Kaewpin and Nikolina Asceric, and fellow local superstars Michelle Gumabao, Risa Sato, libero Melissa Gohing and Jia Morado.
But out to spoil the fun are the Lady Warriors led by Myla Pablo, who can match Valdez’s power and skills—and gallery appeal.
Imports Arielle Love and Madeline Palmer will beef up Pocari along with role players Jeannete Panaga, Del Palomata, Angel Antipuesto, libero Jellie Tempiatura and playmaker Wendy Semana.
Not to be overlooked is the separate showdown between the High Flyers and the Perlas Spikers.
“I think we’re just about even in manpower although they’ve got strong imports and PayMaya is a well-coached team,” said BanKo-Perlas mentor Dong dela Cruz, whose charges are riding on a seven-game winning run.
He is hoping the string of wins can give the Perlas Spikers needed momentum.