‘You win some, you lose some.’
That is what Creamline team captain Alyssa Valdez said after the Cool Smashers suffered their first loss in more than a year, Thursday night.
“I think in every when and every journey naman, it’s part of it. You win some, you lose some and you just have to accept it,” said Valdez, who had nine points in the four-set loss to Cignal at the Sta. Rosa Sports Complex in Laguna.
Heading into the match, Creamline was riding a 10-game winning streak. The last time the Cool Smashers experienced a loss was at the Bacarra bubble when they dropped Game Three of the 2021 Open Conference finals against Chery Tiggo.
What matters, according to Valdez, is how they bounce back and learn from the loss that saw them commit 32 errors in just four sets of play.
Aside from the unforced errors, the 5-foot-9 former league MVP also said that Cignal’s length above the net proved to be one of the main factors in the sorry loss. The HD Spikers tallied a total of 13 blocks in the match with Ces Molina and Ria Meneses collecting four each.
“The important thing is how you come back, ‘di ba? So we’ll take it as a challenge and it’s an extra motivation for us syempre sometimes kailangan din namin ng konting pampagising din para malaman namin kung ano yung pagkukulang at pagkakamali namin at yung mga kailangan pa naming iimprove,” said the former Ateneo star.
“Hindi kami nag-kulang, nasobrahan yung errors namin. Hands down to Cignal, they really played well today. Unfortunately, I think we have so many unforced errors so I guess ayun. Yun nga, mahirap din maka-puntos talaga, their blocking as a team is very strong din kitang kita naman yung height nila very intimidating din sa loob ng court. That’s what happened,” she continued.
Now looking ahead to their match against Choco Mucho on Saturday, Valdez said that they will leave this heartbreaking loss in Sta. Rosa and will take home all the lessons they learned in the process.
“Buti na lang malayo yung Sta. Rosa, iiwan namin dito,” she quipped.
“We’re just very thankful for this opportunity, medyo middle pa naman ng tournament so hopefully mas ma-improve pa namin yung team namin.”
