Alyssa Valdez is once again a champion.
Her Creamline Cool Smashers defeated the Choco Mucho Flying Titans in the Finals of the 2024 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference.
This is Valdez’s eighth championship with the Cool Smashers, having been part of the team since its inception back in 2017.
With all those titles, Valdez admitted that this was the hardest of all the crowns they’ve won throughout this entire ride.
“Siguro, based on our standings, probably this was the hardest, most challenging, and unpredictable [conference] for the Creamline Cool Smashers,” said the 30-year-old outside hitter from Batangas.
Creamline almost missed the semifinals after going 8-3 in the eliminations. The champions lost to Chery Tiggo in straight sets, Petro Gazz in five sets, and PLDT in four sets.
They ended up tied with PLDT at the fourth to fifth spots, but fortunately, the Cool Smashers had superior match points over the High Speed Hitters to enter the semis as the fourth seed.
Creamline then slid to its second straight defeat as it opened the semis with a five-set loss to Choco Mucho – its first-ever loss against the Flying Titans in their franchise history.
But Valdez said that these challenges made them trust themselves more.
“But I guess this is also the season that we proved to our team, to ourselves, to the coaches, and the whole management that our family will stay and stick together despite everything,” said the Ateneo legend.
“Because of that, doon nanggaling yung faith namin, yung hope namin na hanggang sa dulo, kakapit kami at lalaban kami,” she added.
“Talagang nilaban namin, and I think one thing na na-prove sa amin ng mga challenges namin is that kami rin talaga yung magtutulungan sa dulo.”
She went on, “And yun yung naging source ng strength namin from the first loss, second, third, semis… And yung mga coaches namin, hindi rin talaga bumitaw. Sila talaga yung nagbibigay ng confidence sa amin.”
Despite this being the most challenging, the Cool Smashers still emerged victorious in the end.
And for that, Valdez expressed gratitude to every piece of the team.
“We thank everyone. I’ll take this opportunity to thank every single person in our team from our coaching staff, from our utility, from our physical therapists, from our conditioning coaches, and all the players, whether lined up or not,” she ended.
“We have our values; we’re worth it. Everyone is very important in this team.”
