Alyssa Valdez discusses immense growth of Philippine volleyball with two UAAP legends

It’s no secret that Philippine volleyball has grown tremendously over the past decade.

A large part of that can be attributed to Alyssa Valdez, who has helped promote the sport on and off the court.

But, of course, even before the Phenom, there were already several volleyball icons that made a name for themselves in the country.

In a preview of the latest episode of Pilipinas LIVE’s original series called Aces, Valdez sat down with UAAP and De La Salle Lady Spikers icons Stephanie Mercado-de Koenigswarter and Chie Saet.

The trio discussed how Philippine volleyball has gotten bigger over the years.

Valdez posed the question to the two: “If there's one word you could describe volleyball before and volleyball now, what word would that be?”

Mercado-de Koenigswarter had a simple answer.

“Big before, bigger now,” she said.

The trio would also go on to talk about representing one’s school in the UAAP, even citing a famous quote from coach Ramil De Jesus.

“Everything is about school, everything about UAAP, NCAA, or representing your university or college, pero ngayon after college, meron ka nang ibang nire-represent eh,” said Mercado-de Koenigswarter.

“Palagi din nabanggit ito sa 'min ni coach Ramil before, ‘Kung ano 'yung nakasulat sa harap ng jersey mo, 'yun 'yung mas importante kaysa sa likod,’” she added.

Mercado-de Koenigswarter and Saet would go on to have illustrious careers in the professional league.

And while Valdez would go down arguably as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, volleyball athletes in the country, she still attributes the growth of the sport to players that came before her.

“We got to different provinces to cater to all the supporters of volleyball, and it wouldn't happen because of all of you,” Valdez said to Mercado-de Koenigswarter and Saet.

ALSO READ: Why Alyssa Valdez is the Unquestionable Volleyball GOAT

Check out the preview of the episode below:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pilipinas Live (@pilipinaslive)

You can also watch the full episode on-demand via  Pilipinas LIVE at the FREE Zone.

(MDB)