CANDON CITY – Back in action after four months, Tots Carlos expressed heartfelt gratitude to her Creamline family for their patience and support during her recovery.
The three-time league MVP missed a significant portion of the Cool Smashers’ historic Grand Slam bid last season after sustaining a knee injury during the season-opening All-Filipino Conference finale. She also sat out the succeeding Reinforced and Invitational tournaments.
“Honestly, ako, ‘di naman ako nag-expect ng kahit ano. Ako naman, priority ko lang naman palagi is to really enjoy the game. Grateful ako kina coach kasi binigyan ako ng chance makapaglaro today,” Carlos shared.
Carlos made her much-awaited return on Saturday night, checking in midway through the opening set of Creamline’s sweep victory against Akari in the 2024-25 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference.
The 26-year-old opposite spiker immediately made an impact as the Chargers rallied from a seven-point deficit to tie the set at 24-all. After a Fifi Sharma attack error, Carlos delivered a clutch spike to secure the 1-0 set advantage for Creamline.
(C) PVL Images
“Of course, I wanted to be back as soon as I can. Nakakatuwa kasi sina coach, ‘di naman kami minamadali. But also, yung pressure, sarili na lang namin—pine-pressure namin,” said Carlos.
Carlos shared that throughout her recovery, the coaches never pressured her to rush her return to the court. Instead, they consistently emphasized prioritizing her health and well-being, giving her ample time to recover.
“Grateful din ako sa mga coaches kasi inalalayan at inaalagaan nila kaming may mga injuries. ‘Di rin nila kami pine-pressure, so masaya kami na meron kaming ganung klaseng sistema kasi mas namo-motivate kami na makabalik at hindi namadali yung mga injuries namin,” she added.
“Siyempre, sa team, mahaba yung season, so kailangan naming mag-ikot ng mga tao para hindi mauubos yung mga tao. Ginagawa namin yung best namin para makabalik agad.”
