The post-Alyssa Valdez era of the Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles got off to a shaky start as the UAAP powerhouse fell to the TIP Lady Engineers in their Shakey’s V-League Collegiate Conference opener.
The three-time UAAP MVP was there to witness her Lady Eagles crumble to errors in a grueling five-set defeat.
Unable to play, Valdez kept herself occupied by pacing the bench, speaking in timeouts, and cheering for her teammates. But without Valdez’s on-court leadership and blistering spikes, the young Lady Eagles, who were also without injured Jho Maraguinot and Bea De Leon, just didn’t have enough to avert the upset.
“It’s really different not playing. But I’m just really thankful to be with the team and I hope I could help the team by doing that. Definitely I miss playing volleyball and playing with the girls,” said Valdez after the match.
“I’m really just proud of the girls. TIP really played well and they had good defense. With Ateneo, we’re a young team and hindi rin kumpleto ‘yung team. I think they still did a good job.”
Sporting a lineup of former bench players, returning personalities and rookies, the Lady Eagles looked far from the team that drove La Salle to an epic three-game UAAP Finals series. It’s failures like this, Valdez thinks, that will go a long way in helping her team improve.
“Ito rin ‘yung kailangan namin as a team – we have to go out there and get all the confidence we need for the UAAP season,” the 23 year old former Queen Eagle said.
“I’m still optimistic with the team. Ang maganda dito is nakikita namin ‘yung mga kailangan namin ma-improve for the long run and that’s very valuable to our young team.”
Valdez was still listed in the Ateneo lineup as a guest player but she confirmed that she will not suit up for the tournament as much as she craves to be on the court.
“I really want to play with the girls but you have to think of the team. For the benefit of the team, kailangan nila magsama-sama inside the court. We have to face na hindi na ako makakalaro for Ateneo in the UAAP,” the open hitter closed.
“As a player and an Atenean, of course I still want to represent the school. As of now, ni-rerepresent mo siya in a different way, in a different perspective and I hope I can still make them proud.”
