Erica Staunton showed no signs of nerves as she powered the Creamline Cool Smashers past the defending champions Petro Gazz Angels in the 2024 PVL Reinforced Conference quarterfinals.
In her first overseas stint, Erica Staunton has done wonders for the Creamline Cool Smashers in the 2024 PVL Reinforced Conference.
The 23-year-old Staunton came up huge in the quarterfinals as the Cool Smashers downed the defending champions Petro Gazz Angels in straight sets, 25-23, 25-19, 25-18.
Staunton finished with a game-high 19 points built on 16 attacks and three blocks, sending Creamline to another semis appearance.
Even with a jam-packed crowd at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan, Staunton showed no signs of nervousness in leading the Cool Smashers, who were still without superstars Alyssa Valdez, Tots Carlos, and Jema Galanza.
But how exactly does Creamline’s young import zone in for a crucial match?
“I think I have a pretty specific pre-game ritual, I kind of do a lot of things just to get my mind right before every game—focus on my breathing, just mindfulness, visualization and stuff,” Staunton said during the post-game press conference.
“Just because that personally really helps me with settling any nerves and then also just reminding myself that volleyball is fun, I have fun playing volleyball with my team,” she added.
It also helps that the American spiker has been meshing well with the Cool Smashers throughout the conference.
“I love my teammates and so, just making sure that I’m staying external because if I get internal and too much into my head then it affects my play so just making sure that I’m connecting with my teammates all the time, communicating, overly communicating if I’m feeling any nerves inside or anything like that,” Staunton explained.
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Despite the excitement and thrill of beating the defending champions, Staunton remains focused and eager to achieve Creamline’s main goal this conference: to win the title.
“I think kind of going into tomorrow and Thursday, just having the focus of one game at a time, one day at a time, so, tomorrow just making sure that we’re preparing enough because we know we’re gonna have a tough game on Thursday. And then, just fighting on Thursday to get to Saturday,” said Staunton.
“Just one day at a time, one practice at a time. Overall, extremely excited and I feel very blessed to be here on this time with experienced champions,” she added.
Up next for the Cool Smashers will be the Cignal HD Spikers in another do-or-die match for a slot in the Finals on Thursday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City, at 6:00 p.m.