BATANGAS — Alyssa Valdez made sure to make the most of her limited minutes to give back to the 4,157 Batangueños inside the Batangas City Sports Center here on Saturday night.
Finally back in her hometown for the first time in years, the three-time PVL MVP only played in the second frame of Creamline’s straight sets win over Cignal in the Premier Volleyball League Second All-Filipino Conference but still managed to contribute three points off the bench.
“Very, very happy that we were able to go back here in Batangas after siguro the pandemic pa kasi we were here before the pandemic,” said Valdez, who also took the time to take photos with fans right after the match.
“We’re very happy to be back here and it’s just so nice to seal it with a win din kasi syempre iba pa rin yung nananalo ka sa hometown mo. Extra motivation din for me, most especially, na nakapaglaro din ulit sa harap nila,” she added.
The seven-time PVL champion shared that playing in Batangas brought back a lot of memories from when she was still trying to carve a path in the volleyball scene.
Valdez, who expressed her utmost gratitude to the fans who took time out of their schedules to watch the games live, hopes that the league could visit more provinces in the future to give fans and their hometown heroes a chance to reconnect.
“It humbles me every time I go back here talaga. Maalala mo kung saan ka nagsimula so it’s nice to bring back all those memories to start off the season,” shared Valdez, who hails from San Juan, Batangas — a town that is just 60 km away from the venue.
“Sana marami pa tayong mabalikan na mga provinces ng mga bawat players din kasi it’s just so nice to see na proud and happy yung mga fans and mga kababayan nila para sa kanila,” she added.
Aside from it all, Valdez also relished the opportunity to play in front of her family — a moment that definitely made her homecoming sweeter.
Oo (added motivation sila). It’s been a while since they watched nga the games kasi syempre may mga work din sila. I’m just very glad na kahit papaano binigyan tayo ng pagkakataon ng coaches to play in today’s game,” said Valdez.
“But I’m just very happy, kahit ‘di naman ako maglaro, kasi yung family ko naman they support me and they support the team especially so very, very happy and extra power and energy (for me) na nandito rin sila.”
