Martin San Diego | FCF
Ateneo’s Alyssa Valdez has not only shown leadership by piling on the numbers in the stat sheets, but also embodies the “Heart Strong” mantra of Head Coach Anusorn “Tai” Bundit.
The league’s top scorer shook off a sprained ankle in the third set of their four-set 25-22, 8-25, 25-19, 25-22 victory over National University on Saturday and is the lynchpin for the Lady Eagles’ third straight finals appearance.
With her top performance in three consecutive do-or-die games, Alyssa Valdez earns the Fullcourtfresh.com Hero of the Week award.
The 20-year old outside hitter scored 22 points off 16 attacks, five blocks and one service ace in the no-tomorrow match that not only gave their squad their seventh straight win, but also another crack at the “four-peat” seeking De La Salle University, which has denied them the title in their two previous meetings.
“[Injuries are] part of the game. And kahit during training, kahit sumasakit na katawan namin pinupush kami ni Coach Tai [Bundit] na wala lang ‘yan. Heart strong. And ‘yung ginagawa namin, it’s for the team [at] hindi para sa amin. So kaya namin nagagawa siguro dahil sa mga sacrifices ng teammates namin,” Valdez said.
At the end of the elimination round, Valdez tallied a team and league high total of 269 points in 14 games this season, finishing first in the list of Best Servers with a 0.74 average per set and fourth among spikers with a 33.81 percent success rate.
Ateneo de Manila’s virtual best-of-five series title series with De La Salle University commences on Wednesday, 4:00 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The Lady Spikers, unbeaten in 30 games, hold a tremendous two-to-win, thrice-to-beat edge in the title round.
