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MANILA, Philippines -- There may be some "what ifs" but their experience in the 2022 AVC Cup for Women will always be precious to the Creamline Cool Smashers and their captain, Jia Morado-de Guzman.
The Cool Smashers were called to represent the country in the tournament following their triumph in the 2022 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Invitational Conference, after the national federation's decision to drop players of National University from the national team pool.
Despite having less than a week to prepare for the competition, the Cool Smashers arguably exceeded expectations. They managed two wins in the group phase, then stunned higher-ranked Australia in the classification to advance to the battle for fifth place. Along the way, they took a set off regional powerhouse Thailand.
A straight-sets defeat to Chinese Taipei on Monday gave them a sixth-place finish -- an achievement to be proud of, said de Guzman.
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"Maraming what ifs ang nangyari, ang pwede sanang nangyari. Maraming nangyari talaga," said the veteran setter.
"But at the end of the day, sixth place, that's something to be proud of pa rin. That's still a big improvement," she added.
The Philippines finished ninth in the 2018 edition of the tournament held in Thailand.
That they advanced to the quarterfinals and finished sixth is quite remarkable, considering the struggles that their team endured in the tournament. De Guzman pointed out that they only found out they were going to play in the AVC Cup late in the PVL Invitational Conference. They had barely a week to recover from their club campaign and prepare for the new competition.
De Guzman herself didn't play in the first two matches over health and safety protocols. And for the whole tournament, Creamline didn't have their captain, Alyssa Valdez, due to illness.
"Very proud talaga ako sa teammates ko. Kasi hindi talaga biro 'yung mga pinagdaanan namin," said de Guzman. "Tuloy-tuloy 'yung mga laro namin sa PVL, binuhos namin lahat doon. And then late notice nga namin nalaman na we were going to step up for the Philippines in the AVC."
"But everyone was very willing to do so. We had to sacrifice a lot of our vacations, a lot of our family time. So very happy kami sa mga panalong nakuha namin, sa mga natutunan namin," she said.
What an experience it was playing for the country with family who fight for you & alongside you even when things get tough. Beyond proud of everyone in this team!
Thank you to everyone who showed their love and support! Grand Prix up next!
She believes these lessons will be crucial to the team moving forward, be it at the club level or the international. De Guzman has played for the national team before, most recently in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, but for several of her teammates, this was their first time representing the Philippines.
"'Yung mga wins and lessons na nakuha namin this tournament, sobrang priceless talaga. Sobrang makakatulong sa team namin, whether in PVL, or kung mabigyan ulit kami ng chance internationally, ite-take talaga namin and magi-improve pa kami," the playmaker said.
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