Heart beats strong in Candon, with a little help from friends
CANDON CITY—At its core, the PVL All-Star Game was supposed to be a night where its stars put their talent on show for nothing but pure fun.
Late Friday night here, the league’s stars decided to share some of the Candon Arena spotlight with people behind the scenes, from court assistants to line judges—and everyone in between.
In one instance, Alyssa Valdez and Bella Belen subbed in a volunteer court assistant, Jhyson Manzano, who ended up scoring the game-winning spike, as Team Heart outshone Team Hustle, 25-18, 18-25, 25-23, 25-17.
“Everyone here is part of the community, so we want to give credit to all of them, including those behind the camera. You’re part of this, too. Thank you for coming all the way to Candon,” Valdez said after contributing 10 points off Team Heart’s bench.
“At the end of the day, we’re just celebrating volleyball. Everyone who’s part of it. It’s great for people to know they have value and that they’re part of Philippine volleyball.”
Belen, who shone the brightest after winning the All-Star MVP, even switched roles with the line judge in the fourth set.
She also subbed in her coach, Rald Ricafort, as a service specialist before helping Valdez in the fielding of court assistant Manzano.
Manzano, an Ilocano volunteer, never imagined that he would play a big part in the spectacle. He ended up taking home a moment to remember.
“Of course, I felt starstruck and I was the one who finished the game and it was my first time meeting them,” he said in Filipino.
Team Hustle’s Bea De Leon and Jackie Acuña also fielded the court assistant and line judge on their side.
“For us, it’s just so nice to see them enjoying,” said Belen after scoring 15 points to win the MVP.
“Thank you to the All-Star. Even if [being a line judge] was just for a short moment, it was a dream come true. Maybe next time … one full game? Or even first referee?” she added with laughter.
The top overall pick from Capital1 continued to establish herself as one of the league’s rising stars, cherishing her dream pairing with Valdez, Jia De Guzman and Myla Pablo, as well as other stars.
Three-time league MVP Valdez was also honored to team up with Belen and other young guns in an All-Star game that introduced unique rules, including one that allows two liberos at the same time and scoring with the premier ball—which is worth two points.
“It’s really great because the players are high quality. We have so many talented volleyball players and that’s something we can look forward to in the coming years—that we’ll have a strong volleyball community to support and real opportunities to build careers in the sport,” said Valdez.
