How the PVL is Setting the Foundations of Erica Staunton’s Pro Career

Erica Staunton has a special group of ates with the Creamline Cool Smashers, and a new style of volleyball to help her as a first-time professional.

23-year-old Erica Staunton is continuing her impressive run early into the PVL Reinforced Conference. After a 20-point outing in her debut, Staunton would fire for 26 in Creamline’s bounce-back victory against the Farm Fresh Foxies last Saturday.

Surprisingly, the PVL is Erica’s professional debut following her NCAA career in the United States. Right off the bat, she’s already taken a major role, with imports expected to shoulder much of the scoring load for their respective squads.

On top of that, Erica is still transitioning to the Philippine volleyball style like other first-time reinforcements.

(Photo Credit: PVL Images)

Fortunately, young Erica has her ates to lean on…who just so happen to be some of Philippine volleyball’s finest names. As a young talent, it’s quite the luxury to learn from Alyssa Valdez, Tots Carlos, and Michele Gumabao, among others.

Last Saturday’s game was a perfect example of this. Being a newcomer, Erica admits her tendency to “swing too high or too low,” which prevents her from scoring through block touches.

Against the Foxies, however, she shared: “Ate MG [Michele Gumabao] would even say, swing high, swing high, swing high. So having my teammates kind of there reminding me, it’s definitely a team effort. Even Alyssa came up to me and gave me some offensive, defensive tips.”

“This is my first international experience. So I just want to make sure that I am looking to our veterans and getting their advice, seeing what they see, even if they’re on the sideline, injured. They have a great set of eyes, they have a lot of wisdom here,” she added to reporters on Saturday.

Mentorship aside, playing for Creamline also takes some pressure off the young American. As heavy as their losses have been, it’s not to say that the Cool Smashers lack depth either.

Being multi-time champs as well, everyone in Creamline brings an invaluable sense of maturity. So while she’ll be a main option, Erica Staunton will have a deep supporting cast behind her.

“Just really being able to look to them for composure. They’re a championship team. They’re not unfamiliar with pressure. So it’s easy to look to them to kind of take the pressure off me a little bit. And also, I have so many other great hitters on the team as well. So it’s definitely, it’s not just me.”

For love of the game 

In relation to everything, Erica Staunton also admitted her first-game jitters against PLDT last July 16. Understandably, it all goes back to her being a first-time professional.

At the same time, there’s the Philippine volleyball environment and its passionate fanbase. Like other imports, Erica is amazed by this, admitting “there’s really nothing like the environment” when it comes to the local volleyball scene.

But despite the overwhelming odds, Erica responded by remembering how to “enjoy the moment, and enjoy the process.” On top of her love for the game, Erica Staunton chose to be here after all.

“I chose to be here. I’m excited to be here and kind of focusing more on that. And like I’ve said before, Creamline does a great job of making sure that us as players, we’re focusing on having fun,” the outside hitter told reporters.

“And if we’re not having fun, then we’re not playing to the best of our ability. So kind of just locking into all of those things, working on some mindset things before the game just to really calm myself down,” Erica added.

Simply put, it was a matter of “turning nervousness into excitement” for the young gun.

(Photo Credit: PVL Images)

Now that she’s settled in, it’ll be interesting to see how much higher Erica Staunton will perform for the Cool Smashers. But if her two games are an indicator, then this should prove to be interesting as Creamline continues to gel for the conference.

And if we’ll circle back, she’ll have a complete set of quality mentors, who are just as excited to have her onboard. Just ask Michele Gumabao, who openly acknowledged Erica as she discussed Creamline’s need to improve their on-court chemistry.

“She’s very young and being here sa Philippines, na nae-expose siya sa ganito kalaking venue, and such a big crowd, so it’s also fun that she also has a lot of input for us. Big contribution talaga siya samin” Gumabao told reporters on Saturday.