It wasn’t the result she had wanted, but Tots Carlos was thrilled to make her comeback from a knee injury that sidelined her for six months.
Carlos delivered 12 points, but Creamline fell short against Akari, which drew 34 points from Annie Mitchem, 23-25, 25-23, 30-28, 23-25, 15-12, in the PVL Reinforced Conference on Saturday night at the Dasmariñas Arena. ‘My injury was a bit complicated. We really had to figure out what worked best for me. It took a lot of patience and discipline to get back,’ said Carlos in Filipino.
‘It’s also about mindset because when you have injuries, it’s frustrating. But I’ve learned a lot from everything that happened.’
Creamline lost to Akari for the first time after 10 games, including a title-clinching sweep in the Reinforced Conference last year.
But the three-time Conference MVP and the Cool Smashers are sticking to the positives, with a short turnaround before battling All-Filipino champion Petro Gazz on Tuesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
‘The team was still positive after the game. It wasn’t an easy match, but you could see the effort. It was a tough loss, for sure. But like always, once a game is done, the focus shifts to the next one,’ Carlos said. ‘We don’t have much time to prepare, so we move forward quickly. The coaches already gave us feedback too.’
Carlos was proud of her team after forcing a fifth set behind Courtney Schwan and Alyssa Valdez’s clutch showing.
But they have to address their late-game errors to bounce back from this tough loss.
‘Honestly, I appreciate how hard the team worked tonight. It wasn’t an easy game-Akari played really well, and their whole team showed up,’ said Carlos.
‘I think we just need to respond better to what the other team is doing. That’s really it. There were some crucial errors that turned out to be the difference of the game.’