To say that it has been a wild but fulfilling month for Creamline is an understatement.
The squad had to earlier take down the best clubs in the Philippines and a guest team from Chinese Taipei to win the fast-paced Invitational Conference. Then moments after had to accept the offer to represent the country in the AVC Cup for Women.
Fortunately, it would not entail travel as the country would serve as the host. Unfortunately, though, the squad was beleaguered with problems, mostly on health, where setter Jia De Guzman and head coach Sherwin Meneses had to go on standby, and captain Alyssa Valdez and middle blocker Risa Sato had to skip the Cup altogether.
Fast forward to Tuesday and despite losing a close one against Chinese Taipei — the national team this time, the side is happy with the experience and proud of the fight they did all for the flag and country.
“Very proud talaga ko sa teammates ko kasi hindi talaga biro yung pinangdaan namin na tuluy-tuloy yung mga laro namin sa PVL, binuhos talaga lahat namin don, and then late notice nga namin nalaman na we were going to step up for the Philippines in the AVC,” acting captain De Guzman recalled on the start of this journey.
“But, everyone was willing to do so. We had to sacrifice a lot of vacations, a lot of family time, so very happy kami sa mga panalong nakuha namin, sa mga natutunan namin. Yun nga lang, what coach said, baka lang na-improve pa lalo. Maraming what-ifs ang pwede sanang mangyari if you know … maraming nangyari.”
Despite the unfortunate and unwelcomed events, the squad still pulled through with a better finish than last edition’s ninth-place end, and De Guzman offered something to think of for the future.
The Ateneo product said, “At the end of the day sixth place — that’s something to be proud of pa rin. That’s still a big improvement.
“And hopefully, mas angat talaga dito is long-term preparation, long-term system, yun talaga ang magpapa-angat sa Philippine volleyball.”
