JIA de Guzman’s return to Creamline was never going to be seamless, not after 922 days away, not after taking her talents to Japan, and not even with eight PVL Best Setter awards attached to her name.
Because for de Guzman, coming back meant starting over.
“I know for a fact na it’s been a while since I played with Creamline, so there was some hesitation, there was konting doubt na makaka-jell with the team ba ako as the games go by,” the veteran Cool Smashers setter said.
“Parati lang ako nire-reassure nila, ng teammates ko at ng coaches ko, na kaya namin, kaya ko.”
Even as the Alas Pilipinas captain, one who’s been through countless overseas forays at this point in her career, the 30-year-old playmaker was not immune to doubt.
This was a different Creamline team from the one she left, a group that had learned to win without her, one that had built its own rhythm and identity over the past few years. There wasn't going to be any guarantees that she could just slide back in and pick up where she left off.
And in moments when her game did not feel its sharpest, the safety net around her became clear.
“The times na I don’t feel like I’m playing the best volleyball I’m playing, Kyle [Negrito] is there, ate Michele [Gumabao] is there, Tots [Carlos] is there, everyone else is there ready to step up," she said.
"End of the day, I don’t really have anything to worry about kasi alam kong malalim ‘yung bench namin and kaya naming saluhin ‘yung isa’t-isa.”
The Creamline standard
If anything, the journey back has only deepened her appreciation for what the Cool Smashers have become: a team no longer reliant on one piece, but one built on collective strength.
“I think I’ve experienced this conference how experience and composed my teammates can be,” she said.
“Alam kong hindi rin madali ang pinagdaanan ng team the past few years na wala ako. Pinagtrabahuhan bawat championship, bawat finals, bawat game. And it shows talaga ngayon sa kung paano nila nadala yung sarili nila. At nadadala rin nila ako sa mga pinagdaanan namin. I’m just so proud of everyone.”
That realization has shifted her approach, knowing that if Creamline could win without her, then she has to find her place again within a team that has already proven its winning pedigree.
And this time, she’s not acting as the missing piece, but as part of something already whole.
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