Phenom Alyssa Valdez expressed confidence in Kyle Negrito, who will take over as the main setter for the Creamline Cool Smashers heading into their next tournament.

After multi-awarded setter Jia de Guzman departed for the Japan V.League to play with Denso Airybees, her longtime back-up Negrito will be filling in her position in the starting line-up come the third conference of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL).

In an interview on “The Game” on Tuesday night, September 12, Valdez acknowledged the impact De Guzman had for the team, but she was grateful that the setter passed on her knowledge to the Cool Smashers, especially to Negrito.

“One thing is very obvious in our team — lahat naman really helping. We really appreciate Jia in terms of napaka-generous niya sa pagturo ng knowledge niya, sa experience niya pagdating sa volleyball and as a setter,” Valdez explained.

The three-time PVL MVP assured her support to the former Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws setter that she would be performing at a high level too.

According to Valdez, they will trust each other for the next conference in October and will once again lean on their team chemistry, which has been tough to destroy for many squads.

“We’ve been together for so long. We’re banking on the familiarity and Kyle is doing a great job during the national team stint. We’re just really working hard to prepare for this conference,” she continued.

Valdez surprised De Guzman before the latter left the country for Japan, based on a video clip scattered on social media.

The skipper also shared that she told De Guzman that they would be visiting her overseas to watch her play with Airybees.

It was only last week that De Guzman confirmed her move to Japan after much speculation on social media platforms.

This ended De Guzman’s six-year stint with Creamline in the PVL, which saw her win six championships and eight Best Setter awards, along with four Finals MVP trophies.

She is the fifth Filipino to sign for a V.League club, after Jaja Santiago (formerly Saitama, now JT Marvelous); Dindin Santiago-Manabat (Toray, Kurobe); Bryan Bagunas (Oita Miyoshi); and Marck Espejo (Oita Miyoshi).

De Guzman confirmed to ABS-CBN News that she signed with Denso before the start of the 2023 PVL Invitational Conference, where she helped Creamline reach the finals.

She joins a Denso team that placed sixth in the 2022-2023 season with a 14-19 win-loss record.

She will wear No. 11 for Denso, according to the club. (ABS-CBN News)