Erica Staunton urged Creamline to focus on their next assignment after dropping a marathon five-setter against PLDT to open the 2024 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference on Wednesday night.
The Cool Smashers squandered a 2-1 set advantage, falling to the Lena Samoilenko-led High Speed Hitters, 25-16, 22-25, 26-24, 19-25, 12-15, to suffer their first opening-day loss since the 2019 Reinforced Conference.
“I think that we definitely can make improvements. We can be upset about the loss tonight, then starting tomorrow, we focus on the next game,” said Staunton, a 23-year-old winger.
“I think there are things we can work on and clean up – some aspects that weren’t up to our standard. But I believe these are all things we can address in training and improve on for the next game,” she added.
Staunton scored 20 points on 16 attacks, two blocks, and two aces to go along with 10 excellent receptions in her debut with Creamline.
The University of Georgia alumna said that she learned a lot in their five-set encounter against PLDT.
She vowed to absorb everything and use it to bounce back strong in their next match against Farm Fresh on Saturday.
(C) Joaqui Flores/PVL
“When it comes to a loss, you can always play better. Offensively, I learned a lot because PLDT had incredible defense tonight, so next game, I should take smarter shots and maybe not try to swing so hard,” said Staunton.
“They had some really good check balls off me that allowed their defense to pick up. So yeah, I think next game, I have a better feel of what I need to do for sure,” she added.
Staunton also relished the opportunity to play for one of the most popular volleyball clubs in the Philippines, Creamline.
She said she was in awe after witnessing firsthand the huge amount of support the team received during their opening match and promised to turn things around for their fans in their next match.
“It was an awesome environment. I know we came up short tonight, but it was definitely something unique for me. Just experiencing the fans, how much everybody loves Creamline, was incredible. Even during challenges, you could hear all of the fans chanting for Creamline,” said Staunton.
“So it was definitely something unique, and I loved every second of it. Unfortunately, we came up short for them tonight. We plan on turning that around for the rest of the conference.”
