After years of battling it out on opposing sides of the net, Michele Gumabao and Alyssa Valdez admitted that it still felt weird staying on the same side of the court.
The pair not only duked it out as members of La Salle and Ateneo in the UAAP — Valdez and Gumabao have run into each other several times in the PVL. In fact, Valdez has never won a title against a team that had Gumabao.
But the old foes are now united under the hot pink banner of the Creamline Cool Smashers. Both acknowledged that the situation was awkward at first. They, however, also admitted how easily they jelled in practice.
“It’s kinda weird but it’s nice kasi there’s a lot of healthy competition inside the court.
“Nailalabas namin ‘yung best in everyone. Nakakatuwa lang na kahit rivals kami sa UAAP or professional leagues, pwede pala na magkaroon kami ng chemistry in one team,” said Valdez, the four-time PVL MVP who is looking for her first PVL championship since 2015.
“Masaya lang ako na ‘di ko siya (Valdez) boblockin,” joked Gumabao, a two-time PVL champion with Pocari Sweat.
“Siguro, one less person to watch out for inside the court. Natutuwa ako sa relationship nila ni Jia (Morado) kasi they’re very competitive, they always want to be the best,” the former DLSU Lady Spiker added. “Galing din kami ni Melissa (Gohing) sa system na competitive din sa La Salle. It’s good na even after ‘yung college careers namin, nadadala pa rin namin ‘yung work ethic, ‘yung high intensity pagdating sa training.”
With one of the deepest rosters in the PVL, the Cool Smashers are the favorites to win the Reinforced Conference.
Both Gumabao and Valdez know that they still have ways to go before becoming true contenders.
“It’s pressure, but we’re happy in a way.
“That’s one of our motivations to perform well, to go to training every day. Kung may ganoong pressure, kailngan mo maging prepared and you get your confidence in training talaga,” chimed Valdez.
“When it comes to coach Tai or Creamline, iba kami sa training and ‘yun ‘yung nadadala namin sa game,” closed Gumabao.
“We don’t train like champions, we don’t train like winners, we train like we’re in last place.”
