BACARRA, ILOCOS NORTE — Alyssa Valdez had nothing but good words for Jaja Santiago and the fight that she showed all throughout the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference finals.
On Friday night, the two met on the biggest stage in Philippine volleyball when Valdez’s Creamline and Santiago’s Chery Tiggo fought for the first-ever professional title in the country.
Unfortunately, there will only be one winner in the end. And it turned out to be Santiago, who coincidentally, suffered from numerous heartbreaks at the hands of Valdez back in the UAAP.
The Crossovers, who dropped the opening game of the series, avoided an early sweep from the Cool Smashers to come out victorious through a 23-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-8 Game Three victory at the PCV Socio-Civic and Cultural Center here.
“For the longest time either magkalaban or magka teammate, ako I’m just really happy to witness the growth and God-like talent ni Jaja sa pagva-volleyball,” said the 28-year-old Valdez, who was the runner-up in the MVP race.
“We’re just really thankful. They really deserve it, they’ve been really working hard hindi ‘man natin nakikita, lahat ng mga athletes and players ngayon. So we’re just really thankful,” continued the Open Conference Best Outside Hitter.
“For the Santiago sisters, I think this is really their time so we’re just really happy for them. We celebrate for them also.”
Santiago — who won both the Conference and Finals Most Valuable Player awards — ended up with 26 points off 22 attacks and four blocks while Valdez finished with 17 markers.
For Santiago’s part, she’s just glad to finally get one over her toughest competitor and closest ally.
“Siyempre nakakaproud na everytime naglalaban kami nila ate Ly lagi kaming natatalo naalala ko nga yung sa Ateneo kumbaga twice to beat kami and twice beaten kami nila Ate Ly,” said the 6-foot-5 middle blocker, who was teammates with Valdez in the national team and in PLDT that won the 2012 Open and Reinforced Conferences.
“This time, talagang panibagong journey, panibagong pagkakataon, and happy ako dahil naipamalas namin yung talento na binigay sa amin ni God and ayun nakuha namin yung championship title.”
For the longest time, both Valdez and Santiago have played a huge part in Philippine volleyball’s growth as a whole — teaming up in multiple iterations of the women’s team during the 2015 and 2017 Southeast Asian Games and the 2018 Asian Games.
Now, after seeing two generational talents collide in one of the biggest stages here in the country, there is only one thing to take away from this.
And that is the future of volleyball, as long as both of these players are in their prime, is in good hands.
