CREAMLINE works hard, and as a result, team captain Alyssa Valdez is pushed to work even harder.
As the Cool Smashers’ skipper and most veteran player, the ‘Phenom’ shared not a single training day has passed where she hasn’t been a target of her teammates during spiking drills.
READ: Streak-ending loss will only make Creamline better says Alyssa
It may be a case of giving her a taste of her own medicine, but in a good and productive way, where her floor defense is sharpened just as much as her already-lethal offense under the baton of head coach Sherwin Meneses.
“Lagi akong target sa training ng lahat,” Valdez said.
“Honestly, ‘yun ‘yung isa sa mga important things na kung nag-improve man ako sa digs and service at receive ko, it was because of coach Sherwin.
“Minor details, he actually tells me and it actually works. It helped me improve my game so thank you coach Sherwin. I’m just really happy na kahit papaano, nadadala ko rin siya sa game.”
Safe to say, it has paid off as the three-time PVL MVP currently ranks fifth among the Cool Smashers in digging (1.38 digs per set) and in receiving (38.85 percent efficiency).
In Creamline’s prelims-ending sweep of Galeries Tower, Valdez tallied seven digs and seven receptions on top of her 16-point, Player of the Game-worthy performance.
It’s been nothing short of inspiring for the 31-year-old ace to still be in a position where she has to grind it out as much as everyone else in her team to improve what is already one of the sport’s best all-around skillsets.
“I would say siguro how hard it was (to train on defense after my injury). Binibigyan na ako ng mga tips ni coach Sherwin sa court. Ganun na siya nase-stress sa’kin,” Valdez said.
“Alam mo talagang inspiration ko ‘yung mga teammates ko kasi lagi nila akong tina-target sa practices, every single day, so maraming salamat sa mga effort ng teammates ko and for being patient.”
With their trainings now tougher than ever ahead of the next stage of the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference, it's no holds barred for Valdez & Co. come the qualifying round against Nxled as their five-peat bid and chase for an 11th PVL title enters its home stretch.
"During our training kasi, head-to-head din talaga ‘yung mga counter attacks namin so I think we were able to actually implement everything na pinractice namin to the game," Valdez said.
"‘Yun ang motivation namin, kasi kung gaano kahirap ‘yung practices, sana madala namin ‘yung napag-aralan namin sa games."
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