Creamline star Alyssa Valdez expressed her sadness at not being with the Cool Smashers team in the last two sets of their 25-19, 23-25, 19-25, 25-20, and 13-15 loss to the Kurashiki Ablaze in the PVL Invitational Finals on Sunday night.
Head coach Sherwin Meneses did not field the former Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles star in sets four and five, and she was also seen limping after the game.
“I’m very happy I’m able to actually play games (in the early part of the PVL Invitational). It’s just so sad that I couldn’t finish the conference physically,” said Valdez.
The 30-year-old Valdez suffered a knee injury in late December, which forced her to miss the entire All-Filipino Conference before making her slow return at the start of the Invitational Conference.
The volleyball phenom showed glimpses of her old self early in the single-round robin semifinals, but she was later seen limping during their semifinal game against Kurashiki last Friday.
“I’m just grateful to be back on court with my teammates, and I think after this, there are a lot of reasons to improve more and really focus on getting back 100 percent on the court,” said Valdez.
“I think as an athlete, normal naman na merong masakit. I just came from an injury also. Medyo nakakalungkot na out of all the days din, but no excuses. Japan really did a good job today.”
“So we’re just grateful for this opportunity, na ang dami naming natutunan, but isa lang ‘yung mananalo, and we want to congratulate the Japan team,” she concluded.
See related stories:
Kurashiki Ablaze defeats Creamline, captures PVL Invitational title
Creamline’s Risa Sato on facing Kurashiki: ‘Kailangan champion kami’
