In a dazzling debut at the Rebisco Classico, Erica Staunton embodied the advice of her former college coach, overcoming nerves to propel the Creamline Cool Smashers to a gripping straight-set victory over the Choco Mucho Flying Titans on Saturday night.
The 24-year-old outside spiker drew on a mantra from her days at the University of Georgia, which proved invaluable in managing her pre-game jitters.
“So it’s just really enjoying the moment and then I had a coach, when I was like my last year in college at Georgia who kinda had this one saying, I hope I get it right, it’s 'play for the two, not for the 30,000'," Staunton shared.
This mantra, which emphasizes playing with the same enthusiasm regardless of the crowd size, helped Staunton recalibrate her focus and shake off a shaky start.
“Basically you’re playing the same game whether it’s like your two best friends are watching in the gym and you’re playing loose, playing to have fun. You're playing the same game as if you've been playing in front of 30,000 people, so I'm just trying to get back into that,” she added.
Staunton’s renewed focus was evident as she spearheaded Creamline’s attack, particularly in the intense third set.
The Cool Smashers staged a dramatic comeback from a 14-23 deficit to secure a thrilling 25-16, 25-19, 31-29 win at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Her performance was pivotal, as she tallied a game-high 19 points and added seven excellent digs to her impressive stat line.
Her contributions not only sealed the victory but also positioned Creamline in a tie for fourth place with Chery Tiggo, both teams now boasting identical 5-2 records.
Staunton reflected on the significance of the match, noting, “We’re playing the game that we love no matter how many are watching, so that kinda helped settle the nerves a little bit and then just really like embracing the number of fans that are here that loves Choco Mucho and Creamline.”
Staunton, who recently joined Creamline from Northeastern University, found the experience of playing before a packed venue brimming with passionate fans exhilarating.
“It’s just honestly incredible, the amount of people that love volleyball in the Philippines. It’s great,” she said.
“Honestly, that was like some of the most… I mean hands down the most fun volleyball environment that I have ever been a part of. So I knew coming into it that there were gonna be a lot of fans, there were gonna be a lot of eyes watching,” Staunton continued.
“I kinda just wanted to focus on enjoying it because you never know if I’m ever gonna play in a crowd like that again.”
