Alyssa Valdez attended the first women's volleyball national team practice under new head coach Shaq delos Santos on Thursday afternoon at the Arellano University Gym.
The Phenom was notably missing last Tuesday in the initial meeting where Delos Santos was formally announced as Ramil de Jesus' replacement because of Creamline's training.
Valdez did not suit up in the practice session as she was advised to rest her right ankle, which got swollen after the Cool Smashers' game last night.
"I went to the doctor this morning and I was advised to rest it. Hopefully, the recovery will be fast," she said.
Aside from Valdez, Jia Morado and Myla Pablo were also in attendance but they did not participate in the drills. Morado was sidelined with a right shoulder injury, while Pablo had to leave early to attend Pocari Sweat's training.
Returning players were Jaja Santiago, Mika Reyes, Denden Lazaro, Aby Maraño, Mylene Paat, Rebecca Rivera, Maika Ortiz, Ces Molina, Rhea Dimaculangan, and CJ Rosario.
According to assistant coach Kungfu Reyes, University of Santo Tomas' star player Sisi Rondina begged off from joining the pool due to a conflict in schedule with her on-the-job training (OJT) and her beach volleyball preparations for the UAAP tournament scheduled in September.
Invited players from De La Salle University, meanwhile, did not make it to Thursday's practice because they had an appointment with the United States embassy.