Tots Carlos. PVL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Tots Carlos said Alyssa Valdez continues to make an impact for Creamline through her leadership despite being ruled out of the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference semifinals due to a right knee injury.
The Cool Smashers hardly missed the three-time MVP’s presence as she continued to guide her teammates from the bench.
Carlos, who unloaded 22 points in their 26-24, 25-18, 22-25, 25-15 victory over F2 Logistics to take Game 1 of their best-of-three series, said Valdez helped them to stay composed to finally get one against the Cargo Movers.
“Ate Ly is more on objective with motivation every time she talks to us. She reminded us of what she sees that we can improve and the things we need to fix. Like controlling the ball to give it to Ate Jia [De Guzman],” said Carlos in Filipino after tallying 17 excellent digs and 15 excellent receptions.
“She always reminds us to be patient and composed,” she added.
Alyssa Valdez. PVL PHOTO
Michele Gumabao also stepped up in Valdez’s absence with 20 points, eight coming in the fourth set as Creamline inched a win closer to its fifth straight trip to the All-Filipino Finals and eighth overall.
Aside from Valdez, Carlos was also grateful for coach Sherwin Meneses’ unwavering trust in his players.
“Coach trusts us. So even if we had 11 errors in the third set. We just executed our plays and performed the basic skills better that improved the flow of our game,” said the two-time PVL MVP.
The Cool Smashers go for the sweep against the Cargo Movers on Tuesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Carlos, though, stressed that the goal is not to exact revenge against F2 Logistics.
“Our mindset is not to get back at them. It’s more on we want to be in the Finals since we ended up at third place last season,” she said. “The goal is to rise step by step. We’re not rushing things but we’re happy we won this game and got a 1-0 lead.”