PVL: Denden Lazaro-Revilla, Bea de Leon proud to see ex-teammate Maddie Madayag spread her wings in Japan
For the two Creamline stars, there was never a doubt on Maddie Madayag’s capabilities to take her act in overseas play after blossoming as one of Choco Mucho’s ever-reliable leader.
The trio of Denden Lazaro-Revilla, Maddie Madayag, and Bea De Leon won two silver medals while playing for the Choco Mucho Flying Titans. | Photo (c) RM Chua/ One Sports
As former teammates, Denden Lazaro-Revilla and Bea de Leon know best the true potential of Maddie Madayag.
For someone who played alongside the 26-year-old middle blocker for years under the Choco Mucho Flying Titans, the Creamline veterans knew what Madayag can bring to the table.
“Hindi naman ako na-surprise [for her going overseas] kasi Maddy has the skills to play abroad,” Lazaro-Revilla spoke to One Sports as part of Creamline’s historic grand slam celebration and meet-and-greet on Thursday, October 10.
Madayag ended her five-year stint in Choco Mucho after becoming the third homegrown Filipina to play in Japan’s SV.League after Sachi Minowa (Jaja Santiago) and Jia De Guzman
The former Ateneo Lady Eagle will play as a foreign guest player for the Kurobe Aqua Fairies in the upcoming 2024-25 season.
For de Leon, she has no doubt that her former teammates capabilities’ will be a big help for the team.
“She’s always been a leader and very passionate about when she plays and I’m sure madadala niya ‘yun and I’m sure malaking help ‘yun sa magiging teammates niya.”
Lazaro-Revilla, de Leon, and Madayag played for four years together for Choco Mucho, helping transform the Flying Titans to a championship contender team that won back-to-back silver medal outings in the last two All-Filipino Conferences.
However, Denden and BDL bolted to Creamline in January of this year, leaving Madayag to assume the role of team captain.
In the end, Lazaro-Revilla believed Madayag’s fighting mentality would stand out and be a key factor for the Aqua Fairies in their title campaign.
“Maddy’s very hardworking and when she sets her mind on something, she goes all out to achieve that goal.”
New season, same cool vibes
It was a monumental first season for both De Leon and Lazaro-Revilla under Creamline as they instantly meshed with the Cool Smashers en route to becoming key cogs of their three straight title runs.
And with the new season looming, the veteran libero was more than ready to run things back and emphasized being injury-free as her main priority.
“Mas nai-nspire lang ako sa naging outcome ng first season ko with the team. Na-inspired ako by how hardworking my teammates are,” Lazaro-Revilla bared.
“For now, since kaka-start lang namin ulit namin mag-practice, is to have a healthy first conference muna.”
de Leon, for her part, aims to keep improving and surpass her level of play as Creamline embarks on a new PVL season.
“Syempre, continuous improvement lang talaga and sana talaga mas mapolish ko pa ‘yung sarili ko sa sistema ni coach Sherwin [Meneses],” the 28-year-old middle blocker noted.
“Hopefully, mas mahigitan ko pa ‘yung performance ko last season. It’s always just about continuous learning.”
