Alyssa Valdez replaces heartbreak with ‘sweet memory’ at Araneta

HIGHLIGHTS: PVL Finals Game 2 Creamline vs Choco Mucho

Alyssa Valdez and the Creamline Cool Smashers celebrate their latest title win in the PVL All-Filipino Conference.–PVL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Alyssa Valdez was fulfilled to accomplish Creamline’s perfect 15-0 campaign in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) second All-Filipino Conference as she finally earned her sweet championship moment in front of a historic 24,459 crowd at Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.

Valdez, fondly called by her teammates as “clutch queen,” may have struggled in the early parts of Game 2 but she delivered when it mattered most, scoring five of her eight points in the fifth set including the championship-clinching crosscourt spike to complete Creamline’s 22-25, 25-20, 29-27, 24-26, 15-12 triumph over sister team Choco Mucho.

“This is probably my first championship win here in Araneta. And it’s so timely to end the year with a win,” said Valdez after ending the season with two championships out of the three tournaments. “It feels great to play in that moment also, in this big stadium — with this crowd, intense game.”

The 30-year-old Valdez was part of the two record crowds in the history of Philippine volleyball. The first one was heartbreaking as her final year with Ateneo ended with a Game 3 loss to La Salle in the UAAP Season 78 finals Game 3 in front of 22,848 fans at the Big Dome last April 30, 2016.

“I’d say I’m very very grateful that I was given the opportunity to return at Araneta and always be in the finals with this team. It was really a different experience in 2016 because I was still in college at that time and it was definitely a heartbreaking loss and one that I also won’t forget,” said Valdez.

This time, the three-time PVL Most Valuable Player replaced that heartbreaking memory with a sweeter one as the Cool Smashers earned their seventh championship, completing an All-Filipino “three-peat.”

“But I was able to replace it with a sweet memory, one of the sweetest memories that I have right now is this win at Araneta Coliseum so I’m grateful to come back and see even more fans watching. We did not expect that the support for Philippine volleyball will continue to get bigger,” Valdez said. “We say, Merry Christmas to everyone and we hope to have more historic moments. I also hope that as the crowd support grows, so is the sport of volleyball in the Philippines.”

More than winning the championship in front of the record crowd, Valdez was extremely proud of Creamline’s perfect run sans star players Jia De Guzman and Ced Domingo, who are playing for the Denso Airybees in Japan and Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand, respectively.

Alyssa Valdez.–PVL PHOTO

“I think no words can express how proud I am of the effort that they did today and every single game this conference. I think our mantra this conference was one game at a time literally and one point at a time and we were able to manage to get that final point today,” she said. “I think everyone really had their moment this conference and it’s one thing that our coaches really prepared us for this moment.”

Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses tried different rotations and combinations in the elimination round with every player fielded delivering the goods and embracing their roles that led to their 11-game sweep of the elims.

The Cool Smashers turned to the trio of Valdez, Tots Carlos, and Jema Galanza in their semifinal series against the Chery Tiggo Crossovers and finals duel with the Flying Titans but every Creamline member, who checked in, still made their presence felt to help the team complete a sweet sweep.

“This conference each player was going through something in such a way that we needed to recover in different ways, especially that we also had back-to-back games. I think one advantage that we had this conference was our depth and our coaches really did a good job strategizing from coach Sherwin to our conditioning coach to our physical therapists,” said Valdez, who even sat out in some games in the elimination round. “This really was the longest conference so we had to be intact and 100 percent until the final game. That was our advantage this conference and this game.”

“Coach told us that when you’re fielded in, even if you didn’t play in the elimination round and didn’t play for how many sets, you need to play with all heart because they have 100 percent trust in you. It just goes to show that each one of us is willing to do whatever it takes to help the team win and show teamwork, that was the mindset,” she added.

Valdez missed Creamline’s first All-Filipino Conference championship this year due to a knee injury. She returned to action in the Invitational Conference but wasn’t able to finish the winner-take-all final against Japanese team Kurashiki Ablaze as she was limping when her team settled for silver.

The star outside spiker came back stronger in the season-ending conference, crediting her impressive showing and consistency to Creamline’s healthy competition among its members. 

“Honestly, it’s just so nice to be surrounded by this competitive, empowered women, and with this amazing coach, our coaches also, I guess that’s the beauty in our team. There’s not a day in training that you won’t do your best and show why you’re part of the Creamline Cool Smashers,” Valdez said.

“That was our daily motivation that’s why we did not get tired going into training because we knew that we still had a lot more to learn and we still had a lot to correct within ourselves. And I guess that mentality helped us to also win this game because we knew what our strengths and weaknesses were and each one complemented the other.